Despite What You Might Think
by Geniusgirl The Original
Summary: Despite what you might think, you don't care. An unsettling parallel exists between Seto Kaiba and Anzu Mazaki as they try to make themselves believe this. There's something to be said for progress...Chapter Five. [Updated]
1. Despite

**Despite What You Might Think**

**DESPITE**

_**Dedicated to Meena, the Meener, whom, though not a Yu-Gi-Oh fan, is a wonderful scenario consultant and an absolutely frustrating beta.**_

**AN: **To be read AFTER "Not" and "Sometimes" respectively. If you'd like to forego these two and just read this story, go ahead. I'm simply saying that you'd understand this one so much more if you read those two (in the order that they're mentioned) first. They're both one-shots so you needn't worry about being stuck with two 15-chapter prequels. If you'd rather not…Enjoy.

* * *

Beep. Beep. Beep. Seto groaned and rolled over, his hand connecting squarely with the "Off" button of his alarm clock. Finally. The night had been long and unpleasant. There was no euphemism for it. He hadn't been able to get a wink of sleep. Going to school would hardly make his day any better. His legs swung over the side of his bed, his feet found his slippers and he plodded to his bathroom. 

Despite the fact that school didn't start formally until 8:30, the halls of Domino High were bustling with students heading to and fro, most trying to get the answers to last night's homework. It was through this throng that Seto Kaiba made his way at 8:00.

Seto often wondered about normality. Did it really exist? Events of the past few days seemed to refute that. Lately, nothing was typical. The rain that constantly poured outside didn't help much either. He shook his head slightly and tried to concentrate on something other than the reason for his mysterious lack of sleep last night. Looking up, Seto stopped and then turned towards the door of class 2-A.

His hand was on the doorknob, about to turn it when he heard her – the reason behind his insomnia: Anzu Mazaki. He knew that tone of voice she was using. It was the same one that she had used on the top of the Duellist Kingdom castle. This time, though, she wasn't talking _to_ him, but about…_him_.

* * *

Anzu Mazaki awoke with a start. It was late. She groaned. She'd only managed to get to sleep half of an hour ago and it was already time to get up and head to school. Something she dreaded, secretly. As the "Friendship cheerleader" of the group, it was her duty to be caring, loving and always happy to be in school. She snorted as she made her way to the bathroom. 

Despite the fact that she had said she was late, Anzu found herself in the 2-A classroom at twenty minutes to eight. She set her bag down and surveyed those present. Yugi and the others weren't going to be this early. A few of the regular card-junkies were gathered together at the back desks, checking out decks. A few seats away, Mai-wannabes were chatting aimlessly about the latest fashions.

It was still raining and she hadn't brought a book or her Discman. She'd love a chance to sneak into the Dance room for a few minutes. No one would be in there this early. Without her song, though, it was pointless.

She sat in the second row from the front, second row from the window. Kaiba sat in the front row, right next to the window. Anzu looked up from her desk and her eyes connected with the empty furniture. She could almost see his shape, seated, staring out of the window. He had called last night to find out if she was home, if she was safe. He had saved her during the Battle City tournament – though that might have been in payment for her saving Mokuba. Did he care? What did he think about? Why was _she _thinking about this? Didn't she want to get some sleep tonight? She shook her head to clear it. A stray though floated in. If he did care, how long had it been?

A hand waved in the corner of her eye and she turned as her name was called. A few of her other friends – what few girls she knew – were gathered at one of the middle desks. Smiling, Anzu walked over to them. She was greeted first by Kaoru Yuuki, a manga-obsessed blonde girl.

"Morning Anzu. What's up?" Kaoru could be just a bit too cheery sometimes. She outstripped Anzu on that scale by miles.

"Nothing much. How are you guys?" There were about five others with Kaoru. Of course, she received your usual "Too much Math homework…" groans. Personally, Anzu liked Math. Especially Trigonometry, which was what they were studying. She settled into a chair and listened without interest. She was almost dozing back off when Kaoru's voice jerked her up.

"…Seto Kaiba. I mean, c'mon. Have you ever met such a jerk? He thinks it fine to just push people around cause he's rich…" Anzu wondered when the conversation had degraded into gossip. "…I could swear I've never seen his parents for PTMs."

"I'd bet they really don't care, with an attitude like his plus, they're probably too busy with that company of theirs. And all he does is run around, flaunting their money on stupid Duel Monsters tournaments," contributed another voice, "…You can understand why he doesn't have any friends. There's nothing to care about. The guy's a heartless bastard…"

That was out of line. She knew he wasn't a totally heartless. He just seldom chose to show his feelings. Yesterday was still fresh in her mind, after all. He didn't have to call last night but he had, and that meant…something. She clenched her fists and continued listening.

"…Mokuba, yeah I think that was his name. I don't even know why he's allowed to have a brother. The little guy worships him…" It seemed there was more than one person watching Seto. Kaoru continued, "…Probably treats him like a dog…"

"Hey, have you ever wondered why he doesn't have a girlfriend?" asked someone with a rather sly slant. "No guys seem to have anything to do with him but…no girls either? That's kinda weird, don't ya think?"

"Hmm…you think he's…gay?"

"Doubt it. Just completely incapable," Kaoru answered. "Besides, he's so irresponsible that he probably couldn't juggle school and girlfriend. I heard his grades are the lowest in the class…"

"And who told you _that_?" Anzu heard herself before she realised she had spoken. Everyone was looking at her. She hadn't felt standing up.

"Well, no one, Anzu. I just heard…" Kaoru quailed under the look Anzu gave her.

"Then you have no right to say it, do you, Kaoru? None of you have any right to say anything about Seto Kaiba."

"Anzu, what's wrong with you?" one of the girls asked, "It's just Kaiba. The guy's a jerk to you and your friends most of all. You're actually going to defend him?"

"Yes, I am! Why? Because people like you make me sick," she spat. "How can you sit here and pass judgement on people you don't know? You have no idea what his life has been like. You don't know anything about him."

"And you do?" Kaoru countered, standing up.

"In fact, I do." Anzu answered. She halted for a moment, wondering how much she ought to reveal. What would he not want people to know?

"What do you know, Anzu? Are you his _close, personal friend_?" someone asked. "Because we could easily retract what we just said, you know. About his not having a girlfriend…"

No longer caring what she said, Anzu launched her assault.

"I'm not his girlfriend! But I do know some things about him. Yes, he's a jerk sometimes and yes, he does push people around unnecessarily but what would you do if you didn't have anyone to look after you? You don't see his parents at PTMs because his are dead!"

A few gasps emanated from the girls but none really of remorse.

"And you're wrong, Seto does have friends. Yugi's his friend, Tristan and Joey and Mai are his friends. _I'm_ his friend." Anzu paused for a breath before continuing. "He's got responsibilities too, you know. Not only does he handle schoolwork – which you don't seem to be able to do – he also _runs_ Kaiba Corp. All that money he flaunts is his. He earns it. He's developed almost every new gadget Kaiba Corp has brought out in the past six years. Yeah, he handles _all of that_ and get the _BEST GRADES_ in class

"On top of that, he is the sole guardian of his little brother. You got his name right; it is Mokuba. And Mokuba. You shouldn't even mention him. The kid's sweet and caring and loves his brother more than anything in the world and you wonder why? Simple. Because, although Seto may not care about you, Kaoru, or you, Hasumi, he values his little brother's life more than his own. He's faced death more than once to save that little boy! He loves him. He threatened to kill himself in Duellist Kingdom so that he could save him!"

"Jeez, so he's not all that bad to his kid brother. He's still a heartless bastard," Kaoru intoned, feigning boredom under the public scrutiny of the entire class.

"NO HE'S NOT!" Anzu screamed, infuriated with her 'friends' indifference. "You just don't get it do you? Seto has a heart! He just doesn't want to show you. How can someone be a heartless bastard if they love? You don't love with your kidneys! He cares about people, just not everyone he meets. And I don't blame him for not caring about _you_. If anyone in this class says he doesn't have a heart after knowing this, they don't know what a heart is."

"Fine, fine," Kaoru answered, attempting to brush off Anzu temper. Anzu could see she planned to take this argument through to the end. She had been publicly humiliated and Kaoru didn't take that lightly. "So let's say he does have a heart, this "Seto" of yours." Anzu scowled at her.

"He's not mine," she ground out. "I said that already."

"Whatever. Name one person, other than his brother, that he's shown consideration for. _Cared for_, as you say."

Anzu hesitated for a moment. Should she say it? _What the hell?_ "Me."

"Yeah, right," Kaoru snorted as the other began to snigger. "You?"

"Yeah, prove it." Challenged.

"If I had to do that, it wouldn't be true." Anzu retorted.

"Don't fight fights you can't win, Anzu," Hasumi intoned, "Seto Kaiba is a heartless bastard. End of story." Anzu groaned in exasperation.

"None of you understand! Believe what you like but if you go around judging books by their covers, you're going to miss some great reading. Seto Kaiba is one of the few people in the world who doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve. If you can't see that, you're blind. It didn't take me much time and I was twelve!"

With that, she turned and walked toward the door. She snuck a glance at the clock. 8:18. No one said anything as she moved. She felt sure she had just told the entire world everything she knew – and felt? – about Seto Kaiba. Preferably, no one would ever tell him. Sighing, she turned the doorknob.

* * *

"…None of you have any right to say anything about Seto Kaiba." What on Earth? Seto stopped turning the knob and waited. Was she _defending_ him? And what had they been saying about him anyway? 

"Anzu, what's wrong with you?" a girl asked. "It's just Kaiba. The guy's a jerk to you and your friends most of all. You're actually going to defend him?"

"Yes, I am!" Seto's heartbeat stopped for a fraction of a second. Did she just say that? He continued to listen. Anzu Mazaki was _defending_ him? She echoed his next thought.

"Why?" Exactly what he was thinking. "Because people like you make me sick. How can you sit here and pass judgement on people you don't know? You have no idea what his life has been like. You don't know anything about him." And she thought she knew what about him exactly? Seto smirked slightly and leaned against the doorframe. This promised to be good.

"And you do?" someone asked. Seto thought he knew the voice. Kaoru, or something like that. Now, what could Anzu say to that? She didn't know much beyond the fact that he went to school, played Duel Monsters, owned Kaiba Crop and had a brother named Mokuba. He almost dropped his bag on his foot when he heard her next outburst:

"In fact, I do." Oh good. He would now be able to hear all the rumours that flew around school about him. That would, most likely, be her only line of defence. Unless, of course, she actually knew something. Which he doubted very much.

"What do you know, Anzu? Are you his _close, personal friend_?" someone asked. "Because we could easily retract what we just said, you know. About his not having a girlfriend…" Seto held back a snort. Him and Anzu? Yeah, right.

"I'm not his girlfriend!" _Thank you for clearing that up_, he thought.

"But I do know some things about him." _Let's hear them, Ms. Mazaki._

"Yes, he's a jerk sometimes and yes, he does push people around unnecessarily but what would you do if you didn't have anyone to look after you?" _What?_ Seto stood up straight. What did she know about that? "You don't see his parents at PTMs because his are dead!"

His balance faltered. No one…_no one_ knew that, no one but Mokuba and the Kaiba Corp executives. Anzu didn't know of any of them. Mokuba wouldn't tell her. How the hell had she found out? The gasps didn't penetrate him as much as the pain in her voice when she said it. The feelings behind it were almost as heart wrenching as his own at that moment.

"And you're wrong, Seto does have friends." He listened with interest as she continued. How much _did_ she know?

"Yugi's his friend, Tristan and Joey and Mai are his friends. _I'm_ his friend." Anzu paused for a breath. Seto's breath felt constricted. _Friends?_

"He's got responsibilities too, you know." _And those are, Anzu?_ Seto found himself carrying on a conversation with her inside his head.

"Not only does he handle schoolwork – which you don't seem to be able to do – he also _runs_ Kaiba Corp." He wondered where she got her information. Wherever it was, she certainly got it accurate.

"All that money he flaunts is his. He earns it. He's developed almost every new gadget Kaiba Corp has brought out in the past six years. Yeah, he handles _all of that _AND gets the _BEST GRADES_ in class." Somewhere inside of him, the egotist woke up and grinned. It wasn't everyday a beauty praised one so highly. _Wait up! Beauty?_

"On top of that, he is the sole guardian of his little brother. You got his name right; it is Mokuba." Now this was getting suspicious. Someone inside must be giving her information. She had no way of knowing the things she knew unless she spied on him.

"And Mokuba. You shouldn't even mention him." He stiffened. _What about Mokuba?_

"The kid's sweet and caring and loves his brother more than anything in the world and you wonder why? Simple. Because, although Seto may not care about you, Kaoru, or you, Hasumi, he values his little brother's life more than his own. He's faced death more than once to save that little boy! He loves him. He threatened to kill himself in Duellist Kingdom so that he could save him!"

Well, she had been there for that tragic display. Seto recalled she had put out a lecture much like this one afterwards. He had, of course, been on the receiving end…not the subject.

"Jeez, so he's not all that bad to his kid brother. He's still a heartless bastard," Kaoru again. What the girl had against him, Seto didn't know. He wasn't very keen on finding out. He was more interested in Anzu's reply. For some reason, he recently (i.e. since yesterday) found himself always more interested in her opinion than anyone else's.

"NO HE'S NOT!" Her vehemence stunned him. "You just don't get it do you? Seto has a heart! He just doesn't want to show you. How can someone be a heartless bastard if they love? You don't love with your kidneys! He cares about people, just not everyone he meets. And I don't blame him for not caring about _you_. If anyone in this class says he doesn't have a heart after knowing this, they don't know what a heart is."

"Fine, fine. So let's say he does have a heart, this "Seto" of yours." _Hers? _He barely heard her when she replied.

"He's not mine, I said that already."

"Whatever. Name one person, other than his brother, that he's shown consideration for. _Cared for_, as you say." Would she answer? Did she know the answer to that one? And, if she did, would she have the courage to say it out loud to all of them? He strained his ears. He had to hear her reply. He caught his breath when finally she said, "Me."

"Yeah, right," Sniggers. "You?" _She knew about the call._

"Yeah, prove it." Challenged. He almost felt like walking in right then, to see what she would do.

"If I had to do that, it wouldn't be true." Anzu retorted. He didn't hear. _She knew._

"Don't fight fights you can't win, Anzu. Seto Kaiba is a heartless bastard. End of story." Kaoru yet again.

"None of you understand! Believe what you like but if you go around judging books by their covers, you're going to miss some great reading. Seto Kaiba is one of the few people in the world who doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve. If you can't see that, you're blind. It didn't take me much time and I was twelve!" _Twelve? 6th grade?_

He placed his hand on the doorknob once again. He pulled his mask of indifference on. And the doorknob began to turn…

* * *

Anzu looked up and met blue. A blue school uniform that was way too tall to be anyone else. Raising her head, she looked up at a face of complete indifference. How long had he been standing there? 

Seto looked down. Her eyes mirrored his own. There was something there he couldn't identify. They both looked away at the same time. Anzu made a move to the left and brushed past him. He watched her move down the hall for a few moments before turning right.

"Despite what you might think, you don't care." They both told themselves firmly.**

* * *

**

**AN: **Next chapter will be out soon, if you'd like. Hope you enjoyed this one.

Reviews, Flames, Comments and Criticism are all welcome.


	2. What

**Despite What You Might Think**

**WHAT**

**_Dedicated to Meena, the Meaner, whom, though not a Yu-Gi-Oh fan, is a wonderful scenario consultant and an absolutely frustrating beta._**

**AN: **The second chapter. I wonder if I'm living up to standards. Anyways, Enjoy.

* * *

What the hell had she been thinking? Damn it! The question more likely was: _had_ she been thinking? If this was the general effect Seto Kaiba was going to have on her, the farther away from him she stayed, the better. No, rephrase that, the farther away she was from him and anything that had to do with him, the better. She turned and stormed into the Dance room. So what if she didn't have her song? There had to be some music in there she could use. For God's sake, it was a _Dance room_. What was dance all about anyways? 

'_And what is first period?_' a logical voice in the back of her mind asked. Home Room. _'Oh.'_ It shut up. Anzu shook her head wondering why it was exactly that she had voices in her head. Who was she? Yugi?

Anzu had permission to be in the Dance room throughout the period. Besides, Bakura had been in class. He would definitely answer for her during role-call. She smiled when she saw a box of CDs near the sound system. Ms. Singh had been in school this morning. Sitting down, she began shifting through titles. Finally, she found something she liked: _Dave Koz's "The Dance"_.

How fitting. The songs were smooth and light, and tempo would work perfectly for her. She needed to vent a little frustration whose source she was unsure of confronting but she wasn't going to think about it now. Now, she was going to dance.

She shed her jacket and shoes and un-tucked her shirt before leaving the sound booth for the Dance floor.

* * *

Seto Kaiba staked away from the classroom and the shamelessly curious faces of his classmates, not caring whether or not he would be late for his first period. He needed to contemplate what he had just witnessed. 

What had all of that been about? Apparently, someone had gotten up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Or, perhaps, she hadn't gotten up at all, like him. Still, Anzu Mazaki was an enigma. An enigma in a bad mood, at that. As he made his back to whence he came, more and more questions popped up in his head.

Why had she stood up for him? How on Earth had she gotten all that information about him? How could she possibly know his parents were dead? What _else_ did she know?

The last question made the most impact. _What did she know about him?_

She knew about him running Kaiba Corp. And she thought that he…cared. Of course, she did. He had given her license to say that he did. How could he have been so _stupid?_ What on Earth had possessed him?

In an effort to clear his head, he closed his eyes and leaned back against the front wall of the school. When he opened his eyes, it was to see Yugi and the Mutt heading his way. Not in the mood to deal with the blonde's attitude this morning, he made a detour. He walked down the halls, ignoring the noise of the students around him. He had to find out what she knew.

He rounded a corner and stopped. There were only two doors on this corridor. It took him a while to realise exactly where he was. He was accustomed to entering this corridor from the other end so that the windows he was now facing were behind him but there was no mistaking it, this was the hallway that separated the Dance room and the Gym. He was about to turn away but a stray note wafted out of the slightly ajar doorway on his right: the Dance room.

* * *

This was what Anzu lived for: motion and sound. Every thing on Earth, she thought, could be expressed in dance; every emotion, every message – no matter how harsh – was made beautiful in dance. Like all other forms of art – literature, music, painting, poetry – dance was an addictive, omnipotent form of intoxication. If ever Anzu were asked if she had ever gotten high, she'd have to say yes. 

Light on her feet and acutely aware of the placing of everything (which was really nothing) that was in the room, she closed her eyes and allowed the music to catch her in its tide. Already having surrendered to seductive rhythms of _"Surrender"_ she started working her way through_ "Together Again"_, she found it to be one of the easiest things she'd ever done.

Somewhere in the middle of the song she could have thought she heard a door open but paid it no mind. She continued with her movements in time with the saxophone. A few bars later, she closed her eyes when she was practically bending over backwards for a rather sinewy move before executing a perfect back flip. Gymnastics was fun every now and then, she thought as she kept moving.

Half of a minute later, before she launched herself into a spin, she heard something tip over and crash. Her eyes snapped open and she groaned as she hit the floor ungracefully. Jesus, she must look a fool.

What was it, Fate's _Play with Anzu_ day? Of all the people that had to come barging in, it just had to be Seto Kaiba. Well, at least she wasn't alone in her misery. He wasn't in any better condition considering that he was tangled up in a folding metal chair on the floor. His attempts to rid himself of it looked very ungainly.

* * *

Seto had recognised the music as he drew nearer to the dance room. Dave Koz, of course. Wondering who would be dancing to some of his favourite melodies, he entered quietly, so as to not disturb whoever it was. Only a few lights were in use and shadows lined the walls. He found himself incalculably thankful for them and his ability to dissolve into their depths when he set eyes on her. 

He was getting sick of this. Fate was playing games and he was the unwilling pawn. He had heard that she danced but had never really considered it much. It was one of the simple facts of life, just like he was a boy, Anzu was a girl, and Wheeler was a Chihuahua. Now, here he was, watching her, when the last thing he thought he needed was to be near her.

Something about her made his reflexes flee, he reasoned. Else he wouldn't be standing here, his eyes fixated on her form as she moved. Every cell in his brain was screaming "GET OUT NOW!" but every other cell in his treacherous body was completely unresponsive. Normally, if he ever found himself confronted by someone he had no compulsion to converse or co-exist with, he left.

Currently, though lacking the afore mentioned compulsion, he was still there, silently cursing himself for drinking in every little detail about her. Everything, from the way she was able to close her eyes and know where to move with total ease across the floor to the pure liquidity of her motion. His eyes traversed the lines of her profile – moving though it was – and he noted that without the ridiculous pink jacket and blue bow, she looked reasonable; more mature.

_More than reasonable_, the purely physical, male side of his brain argued. Anzu in a plain white shirt with the sleeves folded up to her elbows and an extra button or two undone, the regulation knee-length blue pleated school skirt and socks was an appealing kind of cute. Twirling around and showing off her already obvious femininity with moves like the current spins she was executing made her attractive – _in every sense of the word_.

Suddenly, she bent over backwards and Seto felt sure she would see him. When he saw that her eyes were closed, he breathed. He stared at her as she moved and considered for a moment that maybe; he hadn't found himself here by accident. He trusted his sub-conscious as far as he could throw Japan. After all, hadn't it been responsible for him calling her?

She did a back flip and the male in him piped up again. He felt like he had been hit physically. Damn, she was gorgeous. Those black tights really did something for her legs. And she moved like water.

_Why was she wearing tights?_ He mentally groaned. She looked about ready to spin again and he smirked inwardly. The pleats on that skirt wouldn't stay down when she did. Then, just as suddenly, he snapped out of it.

What the hell was wrong with him? What was he thinking? No, question was: was he thinking at all? _Anzu Mazaki?_ He realised that he needed to get out of there…and soon. Still a part of him protested. He needed to talk to her, didn't he? This was the perfect time. No one would care if he wasn't in Home Room.

He took one step to the right, heading in the direction of the door. His fatal mistake. Somehow, a chair he hadn't noticed when he walked in appeared beside him and before he had time to steady himself, he crashed to the ground in a twisted heap. Well, so much for not getting her attention.

He heard a thump and craned his neck around to see that she, too, had fallen. All grace had flown out the window and she was in heap that, no doubt, resembled his own, albeit she didn't have a chair hanging off her legs. He almost smiled. Misery loves company.

* * *

The two struggled to regain their footing. Anzu managed this before Kaiba and stood watching him disengage from the chair. She made no move to help. She doubted people like him ever took help freely given. Probably looked at it as charity. 

And, besides, it wasn't everyday that one got to the rare chance to watch Seto Kaiba make a fool out of himself. As she watched, Anzu thought of it as a bit of payment and a bit of revenge for this morning. After all, he had probably listened to everything she had said from behind the door and never made a single move to help. What was her motivation to help him?

He rose to his feet, having finally divested himself from the offending chair. He stood up and straightened his apparel. When he concluded that he had recaptured enough of his fleeing dignity to look at the girl standing before him, he tore his glare away from the offending chair. Why was it that the lights always seemed so much brighter when one was the centre of attention?

Trying toappear impassive, he looked at her. Her hair was bit untidy from her fall, her cheeks flushed from exertion and her breathing heavy – indicating exercise. This was not the best time for him to be noticing such things, however.

Maybe it was just her, but she seemed to find Seto Kaiba in worse condition every time she saw him. His hair was just plain messy and, if her eyes weren't deceiving her, there was the slightest twinge of pink on his high cheeks. Of course, he would never display any emotion to match his colouring. Not to her. Anzu waited for the entirety of thirty seconds before she spoke.

"What?" she asked. "What are you doing here?" she rectified, seeing that the one word didn't make much sense.

What was he doing here? Good question. He asked himself and realised that any answer he could come up with sounded totally ridiculous. He was: a) In the Dance room – a place he had no business being in – and b) Watching her. True, he had thought of clearing up a few things but he had no clue what he wanted to say to her.

Was he just going to stand there? Did he suddenly go dumb? In case he hadn't noticed, it wasn't helping to alleviate an already awkward situation. In fact, it made it all the more terrible because it forced them to stay in each other's company for a protracted period of time – something she personally didn't favour at that moment. She shifted her feet and was about to put an end to their torture when he spoke.

He realised she was getting impatient. Before she could begin shouting, he raised his index finger and said, "I can come back later."

Without waiting for an answer he strode purposefully out of the door. She simply stared after him.

"Damn."

* * *

Three more days and school would be out completely – over for a month and a half. The spring holidays were about to start. Anzu was the happiest she had been all day. The final bell rang and signalled the last of the days she really needed to be in school. Tomorrow and Friday were going to be spent milling around classrooms and waiting for Finals results to come out once more. 

She cheerfully gathered her things and smiled at the prospect of getting home. Despite the rain that poured outside, she walked right out the school building and into the welcoming downpour. She made her way down the road, weaving in and out of fellow pedestrians and stealing what shelter she could from their overlapping umbrellas.

Anzu managed not to think about the holiday assignments she had to get working on, the fact that she would not see Yugi, Joey or Tristan for a month and a half, the fact that she felt left-out from their pre-travel excitement, even what had happened yesterday and that morning. In fact, as she turned off the main road onto the residential streets of East Domino, Seto Kaiba and the mixed emotions he invoked were the farthest things from her mind.

That was, until the limo pulled up and the figure in the white trench coat materialized next to her, an umbrella in hand, shielding her from the rain.

* * *

Seto Kaiba had spent most of the remainder of the school day avoiding Anzu Mazaki. While this was easy physically, mentally it was one of the hardest things he'd tried to do in a very long while. Try as he might, he was unable to keep as firm a grip on his mind's leash as usual. It seemed to have penchant for the seat one back, one to the right. 

He had spent most of his day thinking about what he had heard that morning. Where did she get her information? What was she doing with all of that knowledge about him? What did he care? As the bell rang, he got up from his seat and his head – perfidious as it was – turned towards her. She was smiling as she packed. Seto scowled. Misery loved company but he was all alone.

Before he started packing, Seto pressed nine on his cell phone. His limo would be waiting for him by the time he got out of the building. He passed Anzu as she made her way out into the rain without a coat or an umbrella. She stepped into the rain, oblivious. He turned away from her, not wanting to relive yesterday's happenings. He was not going to loose more sleep tonight.

As soon as he was seated, he shed his school jacket. The shirt and pants werefine but the tight-necked, high-collared jacket was unbearable. Besides, Mokuba said it made his head look big. He pulled on one of his white trench coats over his white shirt and blue pants. Lately, since he had taken to going straight to the office after school, he was found in this garb more and more often. The trench coat was not his multi-angular, sleeveless new one but a more comfortable, long-sleeved, plain white version of the old blue one.

Having no homework, he gazed out of the window, bored. The passing scenery was the same always. When his driver took a turn off of the main road and onto a quieter – more residential street, he blinked. He didn't know this road. Then again, he hadn't always been very attentive about the route he took to Kaiba Corp once it got him there. He cleared his throat and the driver, having been in his service since before Seto could remember, answered his unspoken question.

"It avoids the traffic jam at the 915 intersection, sir." Seto simply nodded and turned to stare out of the window once again. That was when he saw her. She was walking slowly down the pavement. The rain was beating against her frame yet she took no notice. He frowned slightly when he saw her shiver although she seemed not to realize this herself. Before he processed what he was doing, he had ordered the driver to pull over.

That was how he found himself staring down at an equally shocked Anzu Mazaki in the middle of the pavement, on a rainy day, in the middle of April.

* * *

She stared up at him and for once, was able to see something resembling emotion in his blue eyes. He was as surprised as she was and he was uncertain. _'Uncertain about what?_' she wondered. 

He stared down at her; attempting to lookdeadpan and knowing he was failing miserably. He had so many questions for her but had no idea how the hell to put them over. He couldn't simply just ask her – they weren't friends, they weren't even acquaintances. He knew what she had said that morning but that wasn't true. It couldn't be true.

She was the first to speak. His staring at her was becoming unnerving and she was simply getting wetter and wetter by the moment. She hadn't minded getting wet in the first place but now that she was no longer on the move, the cold was starting to seep into her skin. She was going to shiver; she knew it.

"What?" she challenged verbally. It was probably the second time she had spoken to him since the day on top of the tower at Duellist Kingdom. Yesterday, she had simply glared away his offer. Prior to that, everything she had said had either been general comments directed at a group he was standing with or simply something into the air. Everything except this morning but she tried to block that from her mind. He continued to stare down at her for some time before opening his lips, only somewhat and murmuring:

"Where do you live?" _That _took her by surprise. Where did she live? What business of his was it anyway?

"Why?" she asked. Her chin lifted ever so slightly. It wasn't, on her part, an act of superiority but an act of defiance and, well, self-defence. She was going to fight this to the end. Seto Kaiba and – God – his good looks were not going to beat her.

"How else am I supposed to know where to get my driver to drop you off?" he countered.

"Who said I'd accept?"

"Look, you're soaked and you're shivering," he replied. This little game of hers was getting on his nerves. She was going to accept the ride. He was damned if he spent another night worried about her. It's not that he cared or anything, his sub-conscious simply insisted. "You can either stand here, freeze some more during this pointless conversation and develop severe hypothermia or you can get in the limo. Your choice."

She knew she was defeated. She didn't stand a chance anyhow. Had he stayed a moment longer yesterday, she might have relented. Today, she was giving in. He put up an argument and that was all it took. She was sick of rain.

Sighing heavily, she walked past him and into the limo. The raised eyebrows of the driver were not unnoticed. Great. Now she felt even more self-conscious. What? Didn't he pick up random girls from the street and offer to drop them home everyday? She averted her eyes and shifted down the seat a bit to the next window, as far away from his seat as possible.

Anzu saw the driver turn his head and heard faint mumblings through the beating of rain on the limo's roof. The driver nodded and slim hips appeared in her peripheral vision before being replaced be the profile of Seto Kaiba. The door shut and she was trapped. Suddenly, she asked herself why she had even agreed to this? What was she thinking accepting this ride? She groaned inwardly as the limo drove off.

Seto was looking and not looking at her. He was trying to get the wording to his questions right. He hadn't ever – if his memory served him correctly – had a normal conversation with the girl in his car. She had told him off once and then there was that strange single comment thing this morning that he was sure didn't qualify as a conversation however, apart from that, he was sure he hadn't talked to her. Seto was thinking of a way to get his first question into the air when Anzu beat him to the punch.

"What are you doing this for?" she asked. "I mean, it's not like you owe me anything and I doubt you simply pick up random girls from the street and offer to drive them home."

"I don't but I have some questions for you. About this morning," he said, business-like. "Firstly, how do you presume to know so much about me? Most of what I heard could have been gained from the local gossip-mill. Besides, do you even know if any of it is true?"

At least his tone wasn't as angry as Anzu had expected it to be. Still, it wasn't the tone but what he said that got her riled. She wasn't known to be short tempered but Kaiba affected her strangely.

"I don't _presume_ to know anything. I simply stated the facts. I am not and never have been one for gossip, Kaiba, so you can just shove it. Most of what I said is true anyway, and you know it." She sat back and stared out of the window. Because of the tint, she could see both her reflection and Kaiba's. He looked thoughtful. Not angry.

"So," he said, after a time, "you're saying that you know for a fact my parents are dead?"

"Yes. I heard it a long time ago from a very reliable source."

"And you know for a fact that I own and manage Kaiba Corp along with doing school work? You also know that I personally develop the new gaming systems – as a fact?" he questioned.

"Considering that you've spent the majority of the past year and half testing out your new gadgets on my best friends; making speeches about this or that new design you came up with, yes." She was almost mocking him. Something about her being sardonic made this all the more interesting.

"It's also a fact that Mokuba is one of the few people I have ever loved?" There was no need for an explanation as she said, "Yes."

When he spoke again, his voice was so much quieter than usual; she had to strain to hear it over the pounding rain.

"And you _know_ that it is a fact that one of the people I care about, other than Mokuba, is you?"

She looked at him then, turning completely to face him on the seat. The white made him look younger and older at the same time. She knew that if he had been there long enough, this would have come up. She had known it from the time he started quoting 'facts'. She steeled herself, opened her mouth, and lied.

"No, it just got them to shut up." She added, so as to not burn the bridge before her if ever she needed it again, "The truth in that is all yours to decide."

Seto listened intently as she finished. It was his to decide. But he wasn't going to. She was, after all, the Chihuahua's best friend. He decided he was going to ignore the pang in his chest when she said no. He was simply going to drop her home and, like she seemed to be doing, ignore the fact that this morning ever happened. It would be best for both of them.

Anzu returned to staring out of the window as he took to staring straight ahead. That was, until he noticed the amused look on his driver's face. Scowling, he too gazed out of his window. He noticed, as he watched, that she smelt of rain.

When the limo pulled to a stop in front of a tall and none-too-inexpensive apartment complex, Seto looked away from the lines on the asphalt and up at Anzu.

She opened the door. Before fully stepping out although her back remained turned away from him for her own comfort, she said, "Thank you."

Because she was not looking at him he found it easier to reply with, "Likewise."

* * *

When the door closed, he threw his head back against the seat and groaned out loud. His driver simply smirked. 

As the limo drove away, Anzu stared after it for a few moments before turning towards her home.

Once again, they both found themselves thinking, "Despite what you might think, you don't care."

**

* * *

AN: **According to sources, the main holiday for the Japanese is not summer but spring. It's the longest holiday they have (I think about two moths) as opposed to our two-month summer vacation. It makes sense considering the weather there at that time of year is at it's best. It also facilitates my constant downpour. 

Thank you to everyone who took time to review this story. I'll try to get the third (and fourth?) chapter up before my birthday (August 28th). Hope you enjoyed.

Reviews, Flames, Comments and Criticism are all welcome.

Disclaimer: "Surrender" and "Together Again" are from the album "The Dance" which belongs to Dave Koz et al. Titles are used without permission. While I'm at it, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its characters. Fan fiction relates to something about "Fair Use Laws" or the other.


	3. You

**Despite What You Might Think**

**YOU**

**_Dedicated to Meena, the Meaner, whom, though not a Yu-Gi-Oh fan, is a wonderful scenario consultant and an absolutely frustrating beta._**

**_HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MEENA!_**

**AN: **In this chapter, I've introduced a new POV, which I think will add some depth to this story. Also, I've been reading and I'm sick of Anzu-bashing and the Kaiba "suicidals". Not a happy author therefore not a typical chapter. I think this one is actually light. Scene splicing is minimal…unfortunately.

* * *

"Anzu!" 

"Anzu. There ya are! We haven't seen ya all week." Anzu spun around to face her friends. She chuckled as Tristan smacked Joey upside the head.

"Course we've seen her, idiot!" Thus another friendly fight between the two was initiated. Yugi took this opportunity to rationalize their bits and pieces.

"What they mean is, you've been so busy lately," he said quietly, smiling. "What's up Anzu?"

"The usual, Yugi," she replied, "Just the usual." She glanced past him at Joey, Tristan and the continuous fight in the background.

"What've you guys been up to? Packed yet?" she asked expectantly. Suddenly, she felt extremely guilty. She'd been so caught up in Finals, dancing and – dare she admit it – Seto Kaiba that she had almost forgotten about her friends. They were leaving for a month and a half and this time she couldn't go with them. The least she could do was spend what little holiday time she could scrape with them. Which was what she intended to do.

"Yep." Yugi drew her attention once again, "Since we're leaving on Monday we were thinking it would be nice to spend some time together. You know, hang out; celebrate the end of school. After all, it's Saturday. If you're not busy, that is."

Maybe it was just her but Yugi Motou sure knew how to lay a guilt trip. If she hadn't felt self-centred before, she sure did now. Besides, how could she resist those puppy eyes? Yugi might view his height as a disadvantage – something he had only ever told her – but he was absolutely adorable in every other respect. Personally, she considered herself very lucky to have a friend like him. She loved even the other two, with their playful tempers and sometimes non-existent manners. They were like brothers to her.

"Sure thing, Yugi."

* * *

"…Multiply by 10, the decimal point should be just in the right place and then…you're screwed." Seto Kaiba threw down his pen and leaned against his chair-back. There was a terrible knot in his lower back from bending over his desk too long and he had a low searing pain in the bone directly under his eyebrows. 

It was Saturday; the day right after school ended. It was the beginning of the best holiday of the year. Unlike every other teenager in his class, however, Seto Kaiba was not outside enjoying freedom and sunshine. He was locked in his office, typing away hundreds of lines of code only to find that he had to start all over again. He swore repeatedly under his breath before shutting down his computer and gathering his files.

He too deserved at least some rest during the holidays. If he had to work this spring, he'd do it at home, comfortable and in Mokuba's company. Ok, not all of this spring. But at least he could do that today.

He clicked his briefcase shut and looked up as the door opened. His secretary, Ms. Ashiro, was a tall, thin, dignified, middle-aged woman. Everything about her person screamed "PROFESSIONAL". She was one of the company's most respected employees and definitely one of the most valuable.

"Mr Kaiba, you're leaving?" she asked, one dark eyebrow rose slightly.

"Yes," he replied, the tiredness in his voice sounding much more obvious than he had wanted it to. "It's the first day of the holidays. The least I can do is spend some time with Mokuba. Speaking of which…have you gotten any responses?"

"A few."

"And?"

"One has been selected. Although she is younger than would be expected, she is fully capable of handling any situation that might come up," she looked pointedly at Seto. He understood. She continued, "Her age may be a bonus. You said you didn't want someone too old…or should I say, boring?"

"True." Seto stood up and walked around his desk, handing over some of his files. "Cancel the rest of the day." He could have sworn that, had Ashiro's face not been so deadpan, she would have looked approving. He was about to open the door when Ashiro spoke up once again.

"One last thing, Mr Kaiba. You are aware that the Kaiba Corp 30th anniversary ball is coming up in a month?" she asked, sounding almost tentative.

"Yes." He answered, wondering what any of this had to with him. There was special committee handling all Kaiba Corp social events. He never even went to three-quarters of them.

"You are also aware that you a required to be present at such an event. It is a milestone in the company's history." He sighed. It was, after all, the 30th anniversary.

"Yes. Is this leading somewhere, Ms Ashiro?" He was getting impatient.

"Yes. I have been frequently requested to remind you – frequently – that you are required to have a female escort."

He frowned, "A date?"

For some inane reason, a picture of a petite brunette – frequently drenched by the rain – popped into his head. He closed his eyes impatiently, trying to clear it.

"Yes, sir. It is a black tie affair and will, of course, be highly publicized. Your singular presence would not do well for the company's image."

"What the hell does my 'singular presence' have to do with the company's image?" he questioned, no longer trying to bite back his anger. Ashiro, however, was not intimidated. He knew she had dealt with some of the original Kaibas and viewed Seto as no challenge.

"You are young, Mr Kaiba. The sooner you appear settled, the more competent is the appearance of this company's management. Also, it is in your best interest."

"I'm sixteen. How the hell can they expect a sixteen year old to be settled?" he was going to shout; he was raising his voice. When he received only a deadpan look, he relented.

"Fine. I'll figure something out," he said. Just when he thought he had enough on his plate…

* * *

"A job?" asked Yugi while sipping at his shake. Anzu nodded. 

"Yeah."

"Why?" asked Joey between mouthfuls of burger. He looked genuinely surprised that she would want a job. His reaction when he found out she had already gotten one would be something to look forward to.

"Because it'll give me something to do while you guys are off gallivanting," she answered. She tried to remind herself to keep the resentment out of her voice. She was supposed to sound teasing – not bitter. Just because they were going off without her – again – didn't mean they didn't care. She told herself this over and over again. If only she could sound convincing… She shook her head slightly.

When they came back, she was still going to be their cheerleader, their best friend. When they looked away simultaneously, ashamed because they knew, some small part of her that thought the opposite smiled in bittersweet triumph. She broke the short yet immeasurably uncomfortable silence.

"It'll give me a source of funds other than my parents. If I want a car soon, I've got to pay half. The sooner I can, the better. Who knows," she teased, "you might come back to a fully mobile Anzu complete with wheels."

They smiled but looked as though the prospect absolutely terrified them to no end, which, in turn, made Anzu chuckle.

"So what's this job all about?" asked Tristan. "You a waitress or something?"

"You gotta wear a uniform?" Joey interjected, grinning. Everyone knew how much she hated waitress' uniforms. Every time they went somewhere, no matter how many times they had been there, she could start up a rant about the tastelessness of the garments. Something about the designs made them degrading.

"No, I don't. I'm babysitting…ish."

"Tough luck." Tristan said as the group gave her a collective look of remorse. She giggled lightly.

"It isn't _that_ bad. The kid's like twelve or thirteen and apparently really into Duel Monsters."

"So you're babysittin' Mini-Yugi?" joked Joey. Yugi laughed.

"Something like that," she replied, finishing off her shake.

They prolonged their, "Cool."

* * *

Anzu looked up from her novel, _The Nanny Diaries, _as her mother opened her bedroom door. Mrs Mazaki was a short, well-figured woman. Many said that she looked a lot like Anzu, or that Anzu looked a lot like her depending on how one looked at it. The difference in their ages was evident however. Her hair was longer, her features more mature, her outlook much more practical. But, by nature, she also had a generally genial disposition. 

"Mail." Her mother dropped a stark white envelope against her dark violet comforter. Anzu raised an eyebrow slightly. Who got mail at 3:30 on a Saturday? Without removing her gaze from the page she was reading, her mother asked, "Don't you want to find out about your job?"

Oh. Anzu glanced back at the envelope and noticed that her name and address were in the same print used on the application reply she had received – verifying the date, time and place of her interview.

For some reason, the lady who had conducted her short yet encouraging interview had not wanted to give any details about the family she would be working for. If she were chosen, she would receive word by mail telling her where she was going to be working and how she was going to get there, along with how much she would be earning.

She marked her page and reached for the letter. Her mother did the same and Anzu caught a glimpse of the title of her mother's novel, _Blandings Castle_ by P.G. Wodehouse.

The brief letter was printed on the same stark white paper. She was to meet with the lady who had interviewed her at the same place, same time, on Monday. She would meet her "charge" there. Great. She turned her face back up to her mother.

"Monday at noon. Can you drop me off?" she asked. Her mother nodded and re-opened her book. However, before leaving the room, she walked closer to Anzu and hugged her with one arm. Anzu smiled and inhaled the scent of her mother's perfume.

"Luf you, Mama." Her mother smiled and, simultaneously, they went back to their reading. It was just the kind of relationship they had.

* * *

"Please don't wander off." Great. Just what he needed – to be stuck in some café waiting to meet his newest nanny. Of course, they weren't telling him that. They called her his new "spring companion", someone a little older to keep his company and keep an eye on him. He snorted. 

She was probably some fifty-year-old grandmother with rheumatism, who liked knitting, cats and gospel music. He groaned thinking, _'I'm never going to see the outside world again!'_

He noticed the look his afternoon babysitter was giving him because of his groaning and snorting. Fine, he'd stop! What time was this lady supposed to meet them anyway? He rolled his eyes, folded his arms and settled himself into a properly dissatisfied pout.

It wasn't that he was spoiled – he didn't think he was, at least – it was just such a nice day and here he was stuck in some godforsaken shop, waiting on the arrival latest torture instrument people could find to use on him. Wow.

What he wouldn't give to be swimming right now. Or maybe playing soccer…anything but be here. Either way, it wasn't fair to keep a thirteen-year-old locked up on any day of the spring holiday. Yet, here he was…locked up. He even had to try and look presentable.

The door opened and in walked one of the few people he knew outside of his family. Maybe she'd see him and come say hi. After all, any company was better than this strained, strict silence.

He watched as she scanned the room and her eyes landed on his babysitter. She started moving towards them and his hopes suddenly sky rocketed. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad spring after all.

She finally arrived next to their table. She greeted his babysitter, but not him. Apparently she hadn't seen him. He was hidden rather well considering.

"Ms. Mazaki, I'd like you to meet your new charge, Mokuba Kaiba," Ms. Ashiro said, standing out of the way so that Anzu got a good view of him. "Master Kaiba, please say hello."

"You?" She looked, in a word, flabbergasted. Someone hadn't told her whom she was going to be working with. He wondered if anyone told Seto whom he'd employed. Mokuba smiled slightly.

"Hey, Anzu." He gave her a small wave of greeting. She swallowed before replying, very quietly:

"Hi, Mokuba."

Mokuba's grin widened. This was going to be a very interesting spring.

* * *

Anzu looked at Mokuba as he chattered away happily about what they could do during their time. He'd definitely grown some over the past half year. Not so much as to be completely different but he had changed. For one, he had gotten taller. When she had last stood next to him, the top of his head reached the middle of her chest. Now, the top of his head was a bit over her shoulder. 

When he had smiled at her in the café she noticed that his smile hadn't been the pure smiled she remembered from six months ago. The right side of his mouth was quirked at an angle; his smile shadowed by a developing smirk. Something in his eyes made his expression appear ever so slightly acerbic. Also, Mokuba's soft, childlike features had chiselled out and though he still looked boyish, it was obvious he was no longer a child.

As Anzu reflected on the changes, she realised that mirrored in Mokuba were the handsome features of someone else she knew. Someone who seemed to think she was highly susceptible to rain. Good looks seemed to run in the Kaiba family and, in Anzu's opinion; Mokuba wouldn't have much trouble attracting the opposite sex. It was obvious that, like his brother, he was going to be tall. Unlike his brother, however, he had the added advantage of a much more open personality. Maybe if he just trimmed his hair…

"Anzu, are you listening to me?" Mokuba asked suddenly. Absently, she noted that his voice was already breaking. Anzu blushed. She'd been staring at a thirteen year old! She comforted herself with the thought that it was because he looked so much like…No; that was comforting in the least.

"Sorry. I was just thinking about how much you've grown," she said, leaning over to pinch his cheek in a Grandma-like fashion. He blushed. "By the way, if this is how far your house is, how am I ever going to get there every day?"

"A car. Seto arranged that someone pick you up everyday from your house and bring you here."

_Here?_ Anzu looked out the window, to where Mokuba had gestured. The limo was moving through the high gates of the Kaiba mansion. Through the tinted windows she saw the lush lawns, the decorative trees, the potted plants…the fountain. Landscaping by a genius.

When the limo stopped, Mokuba held the door open for her, quite the gentleman. When she had made her way up the steps that led to the front door, she turned around and saw everything fully.

The house itself was marvellous. Four towering, white-marble Greek columns stood on each side of a huge, ornately carved mahogany door. The highlights were French windows. It was beautiful. How could Seto stay at his office throughout the day when his home looked like this? Anzu turned and found Mokuba looking at her strangely.

"Something wrong, Mokuba?" she asked, frowning.

"You called my brother Seto…" he mumbled. She had said that out loud? She tried to fight her blush.

"That is his name, right?"

"Yeah. It is," he replied. Anzu looked away, hoping he would forget it.

"Anyways, let me give you the tour. Stick close or you'll get lost," he said as he opened the front door. "Seto's always saying we have too many rooms. Who wants a house this size for just two people? And here's the living room…"

The next hour Anzu spent in awe. Every room in the Kaiba mansion was uniquely designed to fit its purpose. Each room differedyet there seemed to be a general contrast between the cool, pristine and spacious modren architecture that dominated the less formal, more private rooms and impressive, nearly intimidating Baroque/Gothic architecture of rooms like the dining room and drawing room. Finally, Mokuba showed her where they would be spending most of their time…in his rooms. Literally. He had something to the effect of a small apartment minus the kitchen.

Almost everything about the room reflected Mokuba. On the inside of his door was a poster of Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. The door leading to his bathroom sported a poster of a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Duel-disk systems lay haphazardly around a centre table amidst a large, white, leather settee that looked as though it had been neglected from the day it had been bought.

Although he had a king-sized bed, a huge oak desk – complete with the latest PC, a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf and the settee, his room still had and insane amount of free space in the centre. '_Which is probably where he operates the Duel-disks,'_ though Anzu.

"And that's Seto's room," Mokuba stated nonchalantly, waving at the mahogany doors across from his. Anzu turned and stared at them until Mokuba asked, "So what do you wanna do first?"

Since she was technically his babysitter…"Whatever you want to."

"Well, I had wanted to swim but since you most likely don't have your stuff, you wanna duel?" She chuckled. So predictable.

"Sure."

* * *

"Man! I can't believe you beat me _again_," complained Mokuba as he packed up his deck. Anzu simply smiled, clearing off her Duel-disk. 

"Just luck, I guess."

"'_Just luck'_?" he asked incredulously. "You call those combos _'Just luck'_?"

"Ok, so maybe I did have a strategy," she admitted. Mokuba laughed and shook his head. Who knew Anzu Mazaki would be so good at duelling? Hanging around Yugi Motou must pay off. It had only been a short while but he'd lost count of how many times she'd beaten him.

"With a strategy like that I'd be amazed if you didn't give Seto a tough time." Her reaction to his brother's name was the same unconscious gesture it had been for the past three days. Anzu's eyes darted quickly across the hall towards Seto's doors and then away just as quickly. Again, Mokuba pretended not to notice so as to not make her uncomfortable.

"I'm not that good," she murmured quietly.

"Come on, let's go downstairs," he said, turning towards the door. "Tomorrow, remember your swim stuff. The weather's great for swimming!"

Mokuba had what one could easily call a "half-hour crush". By the end of Monday he'd realised that if Anzu was interested in a Kaiba, it most definitely wasn't him.

Inadvertently, he'd continuously mentioned his older brother, and, each time, he noticed that it invoked the same reaction. In all truth, it surprised him somewhat. It had never appeared to him that Anzu and Seto had anything much to do with each other. The majority of what few times he'd seen them in the same setting they never even acknowledged each other's existence. But then again…

Mokuba looked up when Anzu asked him a question. She was standing next to the fireplace, which was hardly ever used, looking at the arrangement of framed photographs on the mantle. This was his favourite of the living rooms, Seto's too, and because of this, instead of the various pieces of valuable artwork that decorated the other rooms; there were photographs of the two of them. Centred on the wall above the fireplace was a rather large portrait of their parents.

"Are these your parents?" she asked, gesturing upwards. He nodded. She continued to stare at the portrait for a moment then she said, "Your Mother was very beautiful."

"She was," he agreed, "Seto looks like her." He noticed that she dropped her eyes instantly. But it was true. Seto had their Mother's brown lush brown hair – a shade or two lighter than Anzu's, her blue eyes and her pale/light-tan complexion. Mokuba also had her blue eyes but he was naturally more tanned than his brother and he had their Father's black hair. Seto's height, however, came directly from their 6'3" Father, no question.

"I look like Dad but I don't have his height. I always thought Seto was better looking than I am," he admitted. Her eyes moved back up to his father.

"Your father was actually very handsome," she replied, "I wouldn't say it was a bad thing to look like him at all. And you're still growing. You'll get taller." Of course she vetoed the Seto comment.

* * *

"Down here are pictures of Seto and I," Mokuba said, coming over to stand beside her and look at the photos, "this is me, when I was a baby." 

Anzu watched as he pointed to one of a small, rosy bundle with tufts of black on its head. She smiled.

"You were cute." He blushed and continued.

"This is Seto when he was about a year old," Anzu had to look. It would be too obvious if she didn't. Seated on a couch that made him look even smaller than he really was, was a slightly chubby little baby clutching at a white teddy bear. She couldn't help it; she chuckled. Mokuba looked at her and smiled. Then leaned closer to her and whispered in a conspiratorial undertone, "If you promise never to tell, I'll tell you something about that bear."

"I promise," she replied, curious.

"You swear?" he questioned and she nodded. "I swear."

"Ok. Seto still has that bear." And that was it. Her heart went out to Seto Kaiba in that moment and Anzu knew it wasn't coming back. She had sworn a very long time ago that if she never let herself feel anything for him, she would be safe. She could easily never like him, never care about him.

Now, with her head full of images of him, alone in that mysterious room across from Mokuba's holding that bear whenever he missed his parents, when Yugi beat him, each time Mokuba was kidnapped, she knew she would never look at him the same way again. The picture it painted was so heart-wrenching that it made her throat clog.

"Anzu?" Mokuba asked, realising that she had frozen, "Are you ok?"

She managed to pull together what she could reach of her composure and smile at him. He looked sceptical and she nodded, still smiling. He seemed satisfied enough to continue.

Every picture she saw showed her something new, something else about a Kaiba that she didn't know at all. She almost snorted. Now she understood why he had said she 'presumed' to know him. No one knew him. Seto Kaiba was quite something. A package of surprises – nicely wrapped at that.

As Mokuba moved from picture to picture, Anzu watched that chubby little baby grow up. Although the pictures were few – on average there was one for each year – she thought she could see the changes take place. In the picture Mokuba showed her, saying that was the year their parents had died, Anzu saw that something in Seto had died also.

Suddenly, they came across one she could recognise instantly, a skinny twelve year old looking slightly insecure. Inwardly, she smiled at the thought. Seto Kaiba – insecure?

* * *

Thursday was not a busy day at Kaiba Corp. Seto knew this. So he questioned himself: why the hell was he there? He might actually have gotten a full eight hours of sleep last night if he hadn't hauled himself out of bed to come stare at the back of his office door. 

He glanced behind him towards the Domino skyline. It was eleven o'clock. Really, he didn't need to be at work today. Mokuba had mentioned something about swimming too. Within minutes, Seto Kaiba was driving his silver Porsche towards his house.

When he entered, he was greeted by one of the few servants in the mansion. Handing over his trench coat, he learned that Master Mokuba was swimming. Great. Instead of going off to change into his swim wear right away; he made a detour for the pool. He'd say hello first.

"Bet you can't!" he heard Mokuba call out as he neared door that led to the pool. Who on Earth was he talking to? He moved closer and heard the reply.

"Can too!" A girl? Strange. Mokuba never mentioned inviting someone.

Transition from hallway to pool was stark. Unlike the plain white hallway, the pool area was spacious and highly Ancient-Western. The entire portion was made to resemble a Greek temple with an Olympic-sized, sunken Romanesque pool in the centre. The floor was an abstract tiled mosaic.

As he pushed open the door, he realised that there was, in fact, a girl poised at the top of the high board. As he made his way further into the room, he focused his gaze on the girl's face. He almost gasped. _What the hell was Anzu Mazaki doing in his house?_

He may not have wanted to believe it, but there she was, in a black one piece that…Damn it, why wasn't she wearing tights this time? Wasn't there something – anything – to stop his mind from going where it seemed to want to go…_very badly_? As if that wasn't enough, it was at that moment that she decided to knock the wind out of him again.

She dived, somersaulting forward once, her body graceful and lithe, twice with her hair loose and flying and then, suddenly, they made eye contact and she lost her concentration. The last thing he saw were her arms flaying out before the floor disappeared and the water of the pool came up to meet him.

* * *

Anzu had been enjoying her book and the light breezes that passed through the columns of the Kaiba pool area when suddenly, a dripping wet Mokuba had appeared above her and dared her to take a dive off the high board. He swore it was the most exhilarating thing possible. She declined. She was a pretty good swimmer but she wasn't in the mood for diving. 

Mokuba, however, seemed to have other ideas. He taunted her and taunted her until she _had_ to. Yes, she admitted it was immature to give in to his taunting but, really, who cared?

She'd gotten all the way up to the top of the high board when Mokuba decided to make his challenge a bit harder. A Triple Pike. Yeah, she could do that but she wasn't sure if she could even remember what it was. All of those swimming lessons she had attended back when her Mother could have sworn that Anzu was going to fall into sea had fled. That was when he started up again. And again, she gave in.

"Can too!" she had called down. Then she had steeled herself, prayed she was doing the right thing, and jumped. She relaxed and made the first somersault perfectly, she did the second one and in that split second, her hair flew away from her eyes and she saw him. Seto Kaiba was walking towards the pool, dressed only in black.

When their eyes connected, she didn't know what happened. It must have been a mixture of self-consciousness and the sudden awareness of his presence that did her in. Either way, she was out of time for the final somersault and tuck and in a horrid position to hit the water. If she hadn't hit at the moment she had, she would have laughed as Seto stepped over the edge of the pool and sunk.

* * *

Seto was up to his nose in chlorinated water. And he was red as a tomato. He pulled himself up and out of the pool as Anzu did the same, grabbing the nearest towel and wrapping it around her soaked form. He thanked her for doing that. His mental morality thanked her. 

He was about to ask Mokuba what he meant by inviting people here without his permission when a small fact that had been nagging at the back of his mind from the time he had first heard her voice from the hallway: The companion for Mokuba. She was about to say something when he spoke.

"You?"

**

* * *

AN: **About the appearance of pictures in the Kaiba mansion: I thought it would be cool if Seto had portrait of his parents for Mokuba. And it's kind of a tradition to take at least one picture a year, wouldn't you say? 

About Mokuba's age: He's always seemed to me a bit like twelve. I don't know why people give eight-year-olds so much credit. He's thirteen because I've given him an early birthday while both Anzu and Seto are born in the latter half of the year.

About the Crush: it was a spur of the moment thing. Will not develop. After all, it only lasted for half of an hour.

Ok, I'm leaving for my holiday on Thursday so I won't be posting until after the 25th. Sorry. Once again, thanks to all those who reviewed.

Reviews, Flames, Comments and Criticism are all welcome.


	4. Might

**Despite What You Might Think**

**MIGHT**

_**Dedicated to Meena, the Meaner, whom, though not a Yu-Gi-Oh fan is a wonderful scenario consultant and an absolutely frustrating beta.**_

**AN:** Overdue, I know. But something happened while I was trying to get this finished – Life.

Author's advice: Never try to write on a road-trip, during preparations for a funeral, during refurbishing or during exams. Trust me, I know.

* * *

Mokuba couldn't help it. He hadn't meant to sound as though he was laughing at them (which he was) but certain events in life are so unexpected that whatever one feels like doing, one does. All he had wanted to do was chuckle. Like all things that eventually explode, his laughter had also started out small. First, it was a repressed snicker, then a snigger, then a chuckle, a giggle, a guffaw and finally, all out laughter. 

With tears of mirth now flowing freely down his cheeks and his ribs burning, he found he couldn't stop even if he wanted to. In fact, it was as if he had watched everything in slow motion, which simply amplified his amazement and amusement.

He had noticed the moment Seto entered the room. It wasn't like Seto had been trying to hide this time. Also, there was something about the perfume Seto used – _Safari_, if he remembered correctly – that was just too noticeable.

Anzu had made her dive but Mokuba was much more interested in the expression on his brother's face. Whether or not Anzu could pull off a Triple Pike was no longer an issue. Her gracefulness wasn't even half as amazing as his latest discovery.

It seemed that Ms. Mazaki had a certain kind of something that won over not just him but apparently _all _Kaiba men. His older brother included; or should that be, _most of all?_ And for once it seemed that Seto wasn't going to cover up his expression. Maybe it was because he thought she couldn't see him, but he didn't revert to his unemotional stare.

Mokuba felt that, at that moment, his brother was much more human than he had been in a long time. Then, he turned and realised that Anzu was in such a position that flailing her arms and legs wouldn't have made her situation any worse. He watched until she was as good as hitting the water and turned back to Seto who, ever so slowly, made one step over the edge of the pool and, not noticing the lack of grounding beneath that foot, proceeded to lift the other, extend it, and sink in a manner that would have made the Titanic proud.

In the minute that it took him to get over his shock, the two had scrambled out of the water and were glaring/not looking at each other. He'd completely missed what they had said. One step forward, two steps backward.

* * *

"Excuse me?" 

"They hired _you_?" he asked once again. Well, not really. From the time the words left his mouth, Seto knew they would not go over smoothly. Anzu raised a highly sarcastic eyebrow at him.

"And you find that…?" She left the question hanging in the air, a kind of fill-in-the-blank thing. Despite the fact that she knew she was simply an employee in his home at the moment, she couldn't help her response to him.

Anzu was highly aware of being completely at his mercy, of being dressed in only a swimsuit and a towel, and of his eyes that were trying, and failing, to not look at her. All the while, images of him and the white teddy bear blinked at the back of her mind.

Instead of the expected response – something angry or, at least, biting – Seto's voice was neutral, almost blasé.

"Simply surprising," he mumbled.

Well, she had something to say to that…"Oh." Very eloquent.

* * *

Seto was having a very bad day. He was soaked to the bone and highly embarrassed. Together, they fashioned an odd combination of unfamiliar sensations that made him extremely uncomfortable. It didn't help any that his younger brother was laughing at him in front of…her. 

He hated being made a fool of, even more when it was public. Unfortunately, what made him angrier was the fact that he had made himself a fool. There was no one to get revenge on – or rather, to blame it on – other than himself. He had walked into the pool by his own volition. Damn.

He looked up, directly at Anzu. She was the new babysitter? Spring had suddenly become so much more interesting. At least he knew that Mokuba wouldn't be bored out of his mind. Anzu had been at almost every duel Yugi Motou had ever participated in. She must have gained _some_ knowledge of Duel Monsters. In any case, she would at least have a few good stories.

He noticed her shiver as he watched her. He hadn't realized that he'd been staring for such a protracted period of time. Some part of him – mostly his male ego – delighted in its assumption that he was able to make her do that simply by looking at her. He told it to shut up. It didn't.

Who was he today, Yugi Motou and friends? He wasn't one to normally have random voices in his head that he had to constantly shut up. That aside, he knew through past personal experience, that such thoughts about a certain brunette never led anywhere he wanted to go. Deciding it would be the best thing to do, he tried to stop thinking.

He needed to change his clothes and he needed to be away from her. He looked away abruptly. There was no other way. He needed one quick motion to rip his eyes away.

"I'm going to change," he stated, his voice sounding much louder than it should have to his ears even over Mokuba's almost hysterical laughter. Without another word, he turned swiftly on his heel and strode towards his room.

He really hated his life…

* * *

Anzu refused to look at him. She scowled harshly in her mind. Her day had rapidly gone downhill, from "OK" to one of the _"10 Absolute Worst"_ of her life. It was right up there with being chained under an unstable container by a possessed Egyptian lunatic. The reason this time, however, was much more internal, more about what she had done than what someone had done to her. 

First of all, although it wasn't so bad, she had bombed an almost perfect dive. She personally hated making mistakes. What really peeved her was the reason she had bombed said dive. All because of a simple glance at Seto Kaiba…

So what if he had been watching her? So what if she had gotten butterflies in her stomach because of it? So what if she suddenly felt that everything she did had to be perfect? So what if, despite her previous 'perfection inclination', she felt like she couldn't move? That gave her no right to make a fool of herself.

Such clumsiness was not typical Anzu behaviour. Most times her demeanour turned…well, ice cold whenever he entered the room. What had gone wrong with her flawless defence mechanism? When had her reflexes decided to malfunction? Why had she reacted to his expression like that? What was it about the way he'd been looking at her?

A thought nagged at her until she allowed it to emerge. Maybe she felt something for him? Maybe she thought he felt something for her? Maybe, just maybe, she had the teeny-tiniest crush on him? _No, didn't think so either. Probably a flu, a virus, of some kind._

She realised that he had been looking at her for quite some time and although everything in her screamed for her to glare, she was unable to repress the shiver. She knew it had been visible and she knew that he had seen it. After all, hadn't he been staring? But she was cold damn it! All she was wearing was a swimsuit and a towel. What did he expect?

At least, that's what she told herself.

"I'm going to change," he said suddenly. Anzu allowed herself to look at him when she sensed his eyes move. He turned without another word and left. Thinking that she ought to do the same, Anzu turned towards a still laughing Mokuba, who was turning an unhealthy shade of red, rolled her eyes and told him to go change. Then she left for the guestroom where she had deposited her clothes.

She really hated her life…

* * *

Seto allowed himself to burn in the shower. His cheeks were on fire from embarrassment. As he washed the chlorine out of his hair, he tried not to think of anything. He would be spending more and more time at the office this Spring although he had promised Mokuba he would try to be home. Suddenly, he shook his head. Why should he let one little girl make him break a very important promise? All he had to do was make he sure he didn't have anything to do with her. 

He towel-dried his hair as he absentmindedly pulled an outfit out of his closet. Checking to see that he had at least pulled out a shirt and pants, he quickly dressed. On a whim, instead of climbing into socks and boots, he grabbed sandals and hastily shoved his feet into them. Then he stopped as he asked himself, what was he hurrying for? He shrugged and took his time.

When he neared his door, he heard feminine laughter. Great. Seto steeled himself and opened his door.

Why, really _why_, did Fate hate him?

* * *

Anzu hardly ever took a long time to dry her hair. Today, however, she tried to prolong it as much as possible. Yeah, she was stalling. When she was sure that it was dry – and knew for certain that if she took any longer, Mokuba would think something serious had happened to her – she checked her reflection in the mirror one last time. 

Although her clothes weren't anything special, she thought she looked good in them. Not that she was trying to impress anyone but it didn't hurt to not look like a chew-toy. Sighing, she opened the door to face the music.

Mokuba had practically rushed at her as soon as he noticed it had opened. True to his still mostly unselfconscious age, he'd genuinely carelessly thrown on a pair of baggy blue jeans and a random white t-shirt.

When he turned around to start leading her off to their next fun destination, she got a chance to read the print on the back. She'd become accustomed to the outrageousness of them. This one read _'Shock me, say something INTELLIGENT.'_

She was still laughing out loud when they arrived outside of Mokuba's room and the mysterious door across the hall opened. Seto stepped out and, right then, Anzu's day just got a tiny bit worse.

Mokuba took a minute to process what he was seeing. He was sorely tempted to laugh again but he realised that it would simply create more tension instead of easing any. So he settled for playing peacemaker, or comic relief, or whatever.

Anzu, he knew, had arrived in her ensemble of dark brown, mid-thigh-length shorts, a fitted, short-sleeved, cream button-down shirt and dark-brown sandals. Seto, he also knew, had no way of knowing this. It therefore stood to reason that someone, somewhere above, must've thought it would be a highly interesting coincidence for Seto to pull similar colours from his wardrobe.

Decked in a short-sleeved, V-necked, cream T-shirt, loose-but-not-exactly-baggy dark brown cargo jeans and sandals; Mokuba's brother stood in the middle of the hallway, the butt of a hilarious-by-any-standards cosmic joke. Mokuba, who was only just thirteen, wondered why it was that the same someone found it fit to test his willpower. He watched their eyes widen to the size of saucers before they both looked away, pretending they didn't notice.

There was only so much a kid could take before cracking up…

Noticing the silence that had descended upon the trio, however, Mokuba realised that as interesting as he thought this Spring would be, he would spend it in almost complete silence unless he did some serious ice-breaking. If only he owned a jackhammer. He checked his watch: Lunch time.

* * *

"Seto, don't you think it's time we had lunch?" Mokuba asked suddenly, breaking Seto away from his internal rant on the cruelty of coincidence. Seto looked down at the one person in his life that he gave a damn about and nodded. In answering, he woke his appetite. He hadn't eaten breakfast, as usual, but he'd normally have had lunch by now. He didn't protest when Mokuba did an about face and started marching towards the east patio where it was traditional for them to have lunch together whenever possible. 

"I think the cook should have something ready by now, Anzu." Mokuba was chattering at ninety miles an hour about lunch, all the while tugging on the arm of his babysitter. The fact that the two of them were comfortable enough to allow any level of physical contact surprised Seto for a moment. Then he remembered who had been instrumental in saving Mokuba more than once when Seto hadn't been able to himself.

Dropping a couple of steps behind, he silently observed the two. He watched his little brother smile and laugh and joke easily in a manner he hadn't seen before. It wasn't flirtatious but something about the way Mokuba was carrying himself around Anzu was different from the way he normally was.

Then again, Mokuba was thirteen and on the brink of a new awareness about everything in the world. Including females. Seto remembered being thirteen. There hadn't been a big celebration. It had disappointed him somewhat but he'd shared his festivities with Mokuba and their adoptive father. It hadn't been that bad. His foster father hadn't been that bad, in fact. But he still wanted something more for Mokuba.

Mokuba's party had been huge, held on the Saturday before the actual day, but Seto hadn't attended. On the actual day of his birth, a Wednesday this year, Seto had taken him out to dinner and they'd had a quiet but fun evening together, simply enjoying being family. The Friday night Mokuba had gotten his birthday present. Although Seto had returned from the Linkin Park concert with a pounding headache, Mokuba had had fun and that was what mattered.

The fact hadn't hit him until that moment, however, that Mokuba was really growing up. As he watched them, Seto realised that it was true. One thing that made him happy though, was the fact that Mokuba had friends and was so at ease with people…so unlike Seto himself. Being cramped up in an office, working day in and day out, could really hinder social development.

A part of him admired Mokuba tremendously. If he'd been that smooth with girls when he was thirteen… His gaze then travelled up the arm that rested on Mokuba's shoulder to Anzu. If he'd been more open, more friendly, more like Mokuba, he just might've… he shook his head suddenly. _'Might've had a chance? At what?' _he asked himself sternly.

_'At that,'_ he thought. Then he sat down quietly, stared out at his garden, and refused to think of how well those clothes suited Anzu's form; how well the colours matched her complexion; how good her hair looked when freshly washed; how alluring _Dazzling Silver by Esteé Lauder _smelled on her; how much she challenged him; how much of an appealing enigma she was to him; or how much, true to his meticulous nature, he wanted to solve her.

Too bad it wasn't working.

* * *

Mokuba was torn between a small sense of satisfaction and utter frustration. In the past five days he'd succeeded making them sit in the same room and nothing else. There had been no progress at Thursday's lunch. Since lift off had failed, there was, inevitably, no mission. It irked him to no end that both Seto and Anzu could be so stubborn. And he had thought that his brother took the cake at that. He sighed. At least they were perfectly matched. 

Through this dark curtain of despair that threatened to veil his hope of ever getting the two to like each other shone two almost miniscule rays of light. The fact was; they were there. Mokuba knew from observation that the two of them shared a similar penchant. They both seemed unable to resist looking at each other. Not that anyone would hold it against either of them; his brother was almost equal to a rock star when it came to having female fans, however, he truly abhorred the attention. On the other hand, Anzu was not without her own admirers. She appeared oblivious to the stares she received from not only Lower School (1) boys but also those in her own school, his own brother included.

If it hadn't been for the second tiny shred of promise, Mokuba might have given up on Saturday. When Mokuba began to feel much like he had been cursed with a complete Mission Impossible, he realised that Seto was suddenly arriving home much earlier and that Anzu seemed to extend her hours of service. This had only gone on for four out of the eight days that Anzu had been working in the mansion (starting on Friday) but it brought a smirk to Mokuba's face when he thought about it.

There was hope… This rocket might fly.

* * *

Anzu settled into the chair, letting the fluffy white cushions envelop her. If there was one thing she had to give Kaiba credit for, it was comfortable furniture. The sofa was so big it swallowed her. She doubted anyone could see her from the other side of this thing; it was perfect. 

She snuggled deeper into the warmth of the chair and proceeded to pick up from where she had last left off in _Court Duel._ Mokuba had practically blacked out after his morning karate class and was upstairs sound asleep. With a few free hours on her hands, she allowed herself to be swept up into Sherwood Smith's world of intrigue and romance once again.

For the most part, Anzu was generally left alone and uninterrupted by the other nearly undetectable servants whenever she was not with Mokuba. Today was no exception. That was, until a totally unexpected presence landed on the opposite side of the couch. Her feet, which were outstretched but curled slightly because of the angle she was sitting at, were nearly brushing the fabric of his trench coat.

Seto Kaiba looked exhausted. Anzu almost panicked when she dragged herself _out of Remalna, away from Vidanric_, and back to reality. It occurred to her in a single, small moment of clarity that he was not aware of her being there. Deciding that it was best not to interfere, she turned her head back to her book. Her only problem was: how to turn her attention back too?

She could see him clearly from the corner of her eye. Seto's head was thrown back, his eyes were closed and his face looked weary. It was not the way a sixteen-year-old was supposed to look. Suddenly he moved, bringing hands upwards and pressing the base of his palms flat against his closed eyes. He swore quietly and groaned.

Even though Anzu knew it was an outside chance and doubted very much that he would accept, she opted to offer him some help. She knew how to cure a headache; the least she could do was offer it to him from one human being to another. Any other protests her mind might have put forward were silenced by one simple image – a white teddy bear.

Timidly, she reached out and touched his elbow. Taking a deep breath, she murmured, "Would you like some help with that?"

Albeit the fact that his arm was thrown across his face, she knew he knew who it was. She watched as his entire body went rigid; from his feet that had been extended aimlessly in front of him and left to hang ungracefully without support to the very tips of his fingers. His countenance, which had appeared sapped only moments before looked even more tired when he tried – and failed – to make himself alert. To Anzu, he appeared to be the embodiment of the idea of "kicking a dead horse".

It only served to make her all the more willing to help. If there was one thing she could not bear it was to watch another suffer and know she had the power to alleviate his pain. She knew, however, that no matter how much she _wanted_ to help, she could not help him if Seto Kaiba did not give his consent. She could not, like in certain other situations, force assistance upon him. So she held her breath in the few seconds it took his body to relax. Then, without a word, he nodded.

Shocked that it had been that easy, Anzu marked her page, stood up and moved towards his end of the sofa. She stood beside the handle on his end and arrived at a conclusion, the back of the couch was too high for what she had in mind. She cleared her throat. Nothing in the universe could have made her any more confident about what she was about to say.

"You're…umm…going to have to turn sideways and…er…sit up straight, will you? I can't do anything with you where you are." Slowly, the hand slithered downwards, away from his face and he looked up at her. Kaiba's expression was blank. She coughed and explained, "My mother is a physical therapist. She taught me how to cure headaches when I was eight."

Nothing. Despite the fact that his eyes held no emotion, they kept hers riveted. It was as if she was staring at blue wallpaper. She blushed and looked away. Why wasn't he saying anything? She heard a rustle and when she looked back, he had done what she asked. She sighed. Time to get to work.

As soon as she placed her hands on his shoulders, she knew he had to loose the trench coat. It, combined with the shirt beneath, was too thick and working through it would seriously ache her fingers. She hesitated for a moment, wondering how to word her sentence when suddenly, for the first time, Kaiba spoke.

"I suppose I should take this off," he said. The first thing she noticed was his voice. It was naturally a bit deeper and huskier than the other guys' but it sounded raspy – like his throat was bordering on sore. And it too reflected his fatigue.

Nevertheless, before she could reply, he'd already shrugged off one arm of coat and was peeling away the next. If she didn't know any better, she'd have thought that he had Pegasus' mind reading abilities.

She watched his shoulders as he moved. She'd always supposed that their width came from shoulder pads or something or the other to that effect. While she'd seen him without his trench coat on more than one occasion, it had always been brief and she'd never actually looked. Now, she knew the truth. It was plain that there was nothing under the white material of his work shirt so it had to be all him. _Wow_.

* * *

Seto's nerves, had they any strength left, would have been tingling. As it were, they did not and so he was utterly numb. That was, until Anzu placed her hands his temples. Her fingers were soft, small, delicate and an awfully calming cool. It seemed like she knew without asking exactly where to apply the exact amounts of pressure. _What was it she had said earlier? Her mother was a physical therapist?_ If he knew they knew how to do this, he'd have gotten one long time ago. 

Anzu concentrated hard on what she was doing, scooping out the various pressure points on Seto's scalp. They were generally the same for everyone but head-shape and –size made them differ. Still, she could not ignore the fact that his skin was smooth and a tad hot to her cool hands; that his brown hair that seemed thick from a distance was even thicker up close; that it was soft and lush; that it smelt clean and slightly of Pantene Pro V; that it was just the kind of hair you could run your fingers through forever. _Think about something else. _

To their mutual surprise Anzu broke the silence between them.

"Rough day?" she ventured nervously. Seto opened his eyes quickly. In the few minutes that she had been working on his headache he had almost forgotten where he was and what was happening.

Anzu knew the answer to her question before Seto opened his mouth, however. She had worked her way backward from his forehead and arrived at the nape of his neck when she had put forth the question. The amount of knotted tension under his skin startled her. He really did work a lot harder than he let on.

With his voice still raspy (Anzu contributed it in her mind to his shouting on various unsuspecting employees), he answered. The response was not condescending or snappy as Anzu anticipated. In fact, it was one of the _youngest_ things she had ever heard him say.

"Like you would never believe." By course of natural conversation Anzu found herself asking what had happened and then hurriedly adding that she did not mean to pry. Seto paused for a minute considering his options. She had given him leeway to sidestep her query and end the conversation there, however, he found himself strangely inclined to respond.

What did he have to loose by simply telling the truth? What happened to him happened to every other businessman at some point in time. It wasn't anything special. Finally, after concluding that she had no ulterior motives for asking, he replied, realising that his prolonged quietness had made her uncomfortable. Her motions had slowed – much to his displeasure.

"A contract nearly fell through. I spent all morning on damage control." He knew she could hear how irritated with that he was. He did not know that it puzzled her. If he had been facing her, he would have noticed the slight creasing of her brow at his words. She went quiet for a while as she worked out the final knot in the middle of his spine. When she was finished, she ran her fingers lightly back up to his shoulders both to make sure she hadn't missed anything and to soothe the muscles. Content with her work, she tapped him on both shoulders.

"Wait a minute," she began, her tone disbelieving, "you're the CEO of a multi-billion dollar corporation, have over 800 employees in three countries, over 20 executives on your Board-of-directors, and _you _had to do damage control on a contract? Must be a hell of an important contract."

"Microsoft," he supplied as she sat down once again. That pretty much explained it. Seto rolled his shoulders feeling the newly acquired freedom Anzu had bestowed upon them he closed his eyes for a brief second only then uncovering the fact that his headache was nonexistent. _Wow._

He opened his eyes and settled them upon Anzu. Then, remembering what she had said, asked, "Where _do_ you get your information?"

Anzu, who had been watching his effortless liquid gestures, had borne witness to his trademark smirk creeping onto his face. This time there was not, however, any underlying malice or cynicism therein. To Anzu's astonishment, he seemed amused. She was all but floored when one eyebrow had risen slowly and he had thrown his question. It wasn't so much the question or the inability to answer with a legitimate source that kept her wordless but the inability to answer – period. _Sweet God_, he was hot.

Not only to get hold of the desired object but also to hide from him her flush at such a thought, Anzu leaned forward and picked up a magazine from the coffee table. One on which he featured prominently along with his latest duel-disk system, his Blue Eyes White Dragon, and the caption "_Seto Kaiba: The New Breed of Genius._" She flashed it at him and said:

"Time magazine. Read it. You're in there…somewhere." She smiled shyly at him and was pleasantly astounded to receive a one-sided half-smirk in return. Maybe, just maybe, she _might_ be able to do what Yugi had been trying to for so long.

Seto was surprised at himself in truth. But she had a contagious smile. He glanced around and recognized that there was something – or, more rightly, some_one_ – missing.

"Where's Mokuba?" he asked.

"He's asleep. His karate class this morning wore him out."

Seto nodded; it was to be expected. "Has…ahem, has Mokuba given you any trouble?" he enquired. Listening to him, Anzu appreciated the fact that his voice was quieter. She cast a fleeting look at him and found that he honestly looked…diffident about pushing the conversation further. Even though she could plainly see thathe hated it, when she coupled it in her mind with what she had just seen, she comprehended on a much more real scale how much he put into his little brother's well-being. She shook her head. It wasn't fair.

"You know," she started, stopping at one of the pages of his interview where a comment caught her eye, "I was wondering about something you said in here about deck-building…"

_

* * *

_

Surreal was one of many words drifting around in Seto Kaiba's head and he found it almost obnoxiously fitting. He was participating wholeheartedly in the conversation, listening intently but nonetheless it somehow felt rather like an out-of-body experience.

Ironic though it was, Seto found himself enjoying dialogue with Anzu Mazaki. Even though they had started out on the topic of Duel Monsters they had already covered a wide spectrum of other subjects. Unfortunately for Seto, they had somehow come upon the theme of _Family_. He sat in wait, steeling himself for the pang in his chest that would inescapably hit him when she would unthinkingly say, "And yours?"

To his disbelief, when she had finished telling him in a near astringently mordant manner of her brother-in-law's (her _gikei's (_2), as he insisted upon being called) seizure during her older sister's indigestion during her _first_ trimester, she did not turn and ask him to divulge his family history. A bit ashamed at his own thought, realising that he had implicitly stated that she had done so, corrected himself. Anzu had in fact given a dry, comprehensive summary of the Mazaki clan that Seto found appealing to his sense of humour. The only person she hadn't mentioned thus far was her mother. He was almost sure that if she were to ask him about his mother their tête-à-tête would stop there.

"I almost forgot," she said while taking a sip from her drink, which had materialized unobtrusively, compliments of the household staff, "Mom's name is Kisaki (3)."

That was it. Nothing more, nothing less. No questions asked. He hadn't expected it. But the total ease with which she was able to circumnavigate instilled within him a new respect for the girl before him. _Truly enigmatic indeed_.

As she steered the their conversation to new pastures – with his help – he stared at her. Suddenly, he embarked upon a tour of Anzu, discerning the small things about her. Like the way her brows furrowed in sync when she was not particularly fond of something; the way her voice lowered when she referred to something funny – as though she was holding in a laugh; the way she always looked off to a spot just above and beyond his shoulder while she listened; the way she bit at her straw. He observed that there was a particular lock of hair that was partial to flying across her lips as she spoke.

Taking all of this in, he began to envy those hairs more than anything else on the planet.

* * *

Anzu sat back, looking at him as he talked. The information he was divulging was superficial at best, however, it was a start. Take, for instance, the fact that she now knew that he like Reggae. Honestly, no one Earth would probably ever have accused him of _that_. 

Seto paused and glanced at her. He had just completed explaining why he was so fond of the Caribbean beats and suddenly threw the question back at her.

"Mostly instrumental and Indian," she responded, "and Euro-anything."

"Indian?" She had gotten accustomed to the eyebrow thing. Now, it was her turn to explain it all. The best place to start, obviously, would be Miss Singh. A few minutes later, Seto was saying:

"…I findPure Moods...calming. They're– "

"New Age. I have all." For a moment, they both stopped. Not looking at each other but not looking away, most probably through each other, they contemplated this new information. The hush was broken by the shrill ring of a cell phone. Anzu noted that Seto's ring-tone was Jesse Cooke's _Virtue_ from _Pure Moods 3_.

"Excuse me," Seto said, flipping it open, "Yes, Ms. Ashiro?"

Anzu picked her drink back up, and sipped, trying not to listen. The fact that he was approximately two feet away did not assist her.

"No…That's ludicrous; he can't get those _anywhere_ else… Good, have that on my desk in the morning." Just when it sounded like it was over, he frowned and listened again. "Yes… I know it's in one-and-a-half weeks… No, not yet… do we have to go through this again, Ashiro? I said I'd take care of it… No. Goodbye."

Anzu watched him shut the phone with a vengeance, or least with as much vengeance one could exact when closing a phone. He muttered under his breath and she could have sworn she heard a few words that she had not expected to be in his vocabulary. The fact that she was aware of them and that they were in _her _vocabulary notwithstanding.

"More work?" she inquired casually.

"Something like that…" He sipped his drink and continued, despite the fact that she had not asked. "Kaiba Corp turns thirty in one-and-a-half weeks. My secretary and the rest of my godforsaken company are of the opinion that I have to go to the gala thing they're having. I'm fine with that. It's being covered by the press; it's important to the company, I should be there. Now my secretary – I think you know her: Ashiro – has been, and I quote, 'frequently requested to remind me – frequently' that I need to have a date."

He scoffed and Anzu wondered what _exactly _was the problem? She knew he had quiet a large fan following of the female persuasion; he shouldn't have too hard a time with something like that. And she told him that. He looked hard at her for a moment before replying.

"It's going to be boring. I'm going to hate it. I will _not _subject myself to anymore torture at the hands of some groping _bimbo_." Even she had to admit he had a point, she knew the types of girls that swooned over him. The majority was precisely as he had claimed, bimbos. The minority had much the same relationship she had had with him before Duellist Kingdom, none. _Not that she had ever been one of them._

"Don't you know anyone you wouldn't mind taking?" she questioned. Without hesitation and much on obvious impulse, he blurted nonchalantly: "You probably."

* * *

Why had he just said that? Seto was still trying to figure this out when, to his unqualified incredulity, she replied, "Why not?" 

Hope unjustified rose within him. He might not have to bear it all in pain. "Would you?"

"I guess. I haven't got anything to do with the guys gone off to that trading-expo in America." He knew he should have been offended that he was being used as a distraction from total boredom but the scales were even. So was she.

"It's on the night of 28th. I'll have Ashiro fill you in on the details. I have no idea what they are…" He smirked as she nodded, smiling slightly. He was so involved and yet so detached. Sometimes he confused himself.

* * *

"Seto, did you just get in?" Mokuba's bleary voice cut across the room and into the middle of their conversation. They looked at the nearing boy, at each other and then simultaneously at their watches. Holy _Shite_. Seto had gotten in at half past noon. It was six. _Five and half hours._ They looked at each other again. 

"I've been in a while."

"I told him you were asleep," Anzu interjected.

"Ok. Sorry to keep you here so late, Anzu." She smiled. So polite.

"'S ok. But I should get going before Mom has a fit." She stood up, excused herself and went off to grab her things. Once she was out of sight, she stretched. Seto, meanwhile, asked Mokuba what he wanted for dinner. As Mokuba chose what take-out he wanted, Seto also snuck a stretch.

When, finally, the two saw Anzu to the door where the pre-arranged car was waiting, she said goodbye to both Mokuba and Seto. Although she still called his brother 'Kaiba', Mokuba had a strong, nagging feeling that he might have missed something.

**

* * *

AN: Yay! An update I can be proud of! So there. Hope you enjoyed it. A few clarifications: **

(1) _Lower School Boys _– Mokuba's reference is relative to the Orient's school structure. Japanese & Korean (and maybe Chinese) High Schools are divided into two sections – Lower and Upper. The Lower section has three years (1 – 3) and the Upper has three years (1 – 3). Since their academic year ends in Spring (_I think…_) Mokuba is at the end of Lower 1st year while Seto, Anzu etc are at the end of Upper 2nd. The Lower High School starts at 1st Form (American: 7th grade) and the Upper High School starts at 4th Form (American: 10th grade). That explains why Seto walks into class 2-A. 'A' classes are usually the smart classes._ Don't' know how Joey and Tristan got in there…_

_(2) Gekei_ – I checked this up online. It means 'brother-in-law' in Japanese and, more specifically, an elder brother-in-law. It's not as commonly used in fan fiction as words like _'Onii-san' _and so on so I thought it would be cool to use it myself; break in a new term.

(3) _Kisaki_ – This isn't very important but I thought it was interesting. Anzu's mom's name means 'empress' or 'queen'. My beta loved it when she first heard it and so did I.

Now, although this has nothing to do with this chapter, before I posted this, I re-read the other chapters to make sure it followed the pattern correctly and wasn't too off (it's been a while) and I realised that in the first chapter (and maybe the others) the phrase "some time" is always written "some times". Although this is not grammatically incorrect, it is out of context and, when used in the manner I intended, it just sounds _wrong_. But, because I'm a lazy-ass author, I'm not going back to fix it. I simply want to let you know that I know about this and that I know it is wrong. For some reason, it seems to suggest that English is not my first language because it is the type of mistake common to bi-lingual people. English is my first language and, for the most part, my ONLY language – unfortunately.

Don't forget to REVIEW! Please?


	5. Think Part 1

**Despite What You Might Think**

**Chapter 5: Think Part 1**

**_Dedicated to Meena, the Meaner because she practically owns this story anyway, and to AkaVertigo because she's never let me forget that I need to finish this._ **

**AN: **Two years. Two years? Two years!

* * *

Seto did not hear the light tapping on the door to his office so engrossed was he in locating a single syntax error his dry run had glaringly informed him existed in his nearly flawless program – 'nearly' being the key word. How could a syntax error be throwing off his entire program? How had he managed to wind up with a syntax error in the first place? He must have been severely distracted. 

Lately, he had come to associate the word 'distraction' with one particular person. Thankfully, she had called and informed him (informed Ashiro, actually) that she would not be available to work this morning due to some family matter or the other. He missed being able to use such an excuse. He was glad that she would be away. He would be able to stay in the comfort of his own home and really get some work done. When the door to his office was opened, he realized he had forgotten to factor in one crucial element – Mokuba.

His brother stood in the doorway looking much the same as he always did in a T-shirt and jeans but his countenance exhibited a rare aura of boredom. Seto ceased his fingers' rapid movements and waited for Mokuba to speak.

"Are you busy?"

The answer would be thought obvious. However, Seto had made a promise earlier in the year that he would make an effort to spend more time with his brother during spring. Well, it was spring and today he was free to do whatever he wanted without the eyes of a certain brunette making him conscious of his every action. He was not self-conscious in the sense that it made him awkward but he was more aware of everything when she was present. Everything was sharper, every slight movement more noticeable and he was generally more alert. Conversely, there were times when everything became a blur and that led to disaster. The pool fiasco was far from forgotten. Tuning his attention back to the present, he replied, "Not really. Did you want to do something?"

Mokuba smiled brightly and plopped into one of the chairs opposite his brother. He shook his head and declared, "I just wanted to talk."

Seto's eyes widened just the tiniest bit. Although he and Mokuba had a good relationship, open communication was not something they often indulged in. Many times, they understood each other without needing to have long, meaningful heart-to-heart conversations. Nevertheless, far be it from him to ever push his brother away. If Mokuba wanted to talk, Seto would listen.

"Ok, talk."

"So… how's work?" Mokuba asked.

Seto's eyebrow rose. Mokuba had not expressed interest in Kaiba Corp affairs since Battle City had ended. Although the younger Kaiba still spent much of his time at the office while school was in session and still held the position of Vice President, he had nothing to do with running the company. His was a titular position once more. The actual severance was Seto's idea. Having made his younger brother Battle City Commissioner only to see him kidnapped and his life threatened, the CEO had decided that enough was enough. If Mokuba stayed out of the spotlight for a while – the way he had been pre-Duellist Kingdom – he would be out of harm's way. Much to Seto's surprise, despite being disappointed, Mokuba had taken it well.

To Seto's surprise, his younger brother seemed genuinely interested in what he had to say. Mokuba listened intently to Seto's breakdown of events at Kaiba Corp and asked astute questions about points that caught his interest. Seto even found himself making mental notes of some of the suggestions the thirteen year old put forward. On realising this, he smiled to himself, inwardly proud of his sibling's growth. Then, Mokuba strayed off topic.

"Hey, isn't the anniversary thing we go to every year coming up soon?" he asked.

Seto nodded in confirmation, his thoughts instantly on his impulsively acquired 'date'.

Mokuba sighed heavily and then looked at Seto again. He breathed deeply and then asked in what was probably the most sing-song voice Seto had heard him use in a year, "Do I _really_ gotta go?"

The reflex action was to instantly correct Mokuba's deplorable use of language with, "It's 'Do I really _have to_ go?' and actually, no, you don't. Not this year."

To put it lightly, Mokuba's face lit up. Then he frowned, his bewilderment clear. "Why not?"

The coffee that Seto had been sipping splattered lightly across the monitor. Did he really have to explain why Mokuba didn't have to go? Was it no longer sufficient for a child to be allowed to escape what he considered to be nothing less than punishment and _not_ question it? Scowling at himself as he wiped his monitor, he tried to come up with the least embarrassing way of saying that he had practically been forced into finding a date. When he was finished, he replied:

"The company has deemed it… _necessary_ that I arrive with an… escort."

"An escort?" Then Mokuba's eyes widened and he laughed. He _laughed_. Seto crossed his arms and glared out the window. True, the situation itself was ironic but it wasn't – ok, fine, it was that funny. He waited patiently for Mokuba to stop laughing. Finally, the boy was able to catch his breath.

Coughing slightly, Mokuba said, "I don't believe it. The _company_ is _making _you _date_? Did I miss the Apocalypse or something?"

The look Seto gave him was hardly appreciative. Sighing, the younger Kaiba sat back. With an impish glint in his eyes, he asked, "So, did you find a date?"

"Actually," Seto replied dryly, "I asked Anzu."

* * *

Mokuba was under the impression that his jaw was somehow dislocated since it was resting on the floor by his sneakers. Not to mention, he was probably outdoing most _Looney Toon _characters with his popping eyes. Bugs, that dear old cross-dressing bunny, would hire him instantly. Finally, when he was able to close the then gaping orifice that was his mouth and straighten his eyesight, Mokuba realized that there was still something he needed to know. 

Turning back to Seto, who had been watching his brother's reaction with a smug semi-smirk, Mokuba opened his mouth to ask a question. Before it was even halfway out of him, Seto answered it.

"She said yes."

* * *

Anzu walked slowly down the hallway, trying to even out her erratic breathing after her mad dash up the stairs of the Kaiba mansion. She kept her eyes focused on the marble tiles. Subconsciously, she avoided stepping outside the border of each one. When she rounded the bend, she took a deep breath. She had never been inside Seto's private study; she had never seen what mysteries lay behind the heavy oak doors. She glanced up. Obviously, she wouldn't be finding those out today. Mokuba was already making his way out. 

Then she paused. She had seen some strange things in her time – after all, who wouldn't having been friends with Yugi Motou – but she had never expected to find Mokuba Kaiba doing a ridiculous jig while walking backwards. As she drew nearer, she realized he was chanting something with a gleeful smile on his face.

"…got game. Seto got game. Seto got game. Seto got game. Seto got ga– Hi _Anzu_!"

Her eyes narrowed. There was too much stress on her name and he had pitched his voice. She glanced past him through the open door and wanted to laugh. The older Kaiba was sitting behind his desk with his head in his hand and was shaking it from side to side, looking for all the world like a parent asking himself, "Where did I go wrong?"

Quite suddenly, he looked directly at her, a hint of humour in his expression. It was the first time she had ever seen that look. It changed his features drastically. Until that moment, she had never realized how severe his expression really was, how old it made him look, how unpleasant. If only he would smile more. If only…

She smiled timidly at him and turned her attention back to Mokuba (who was still singing his little ditty). Placing a cool, steady hand on the back of his neck, she stilled him though she was unable to wipe the broad, practically face-splitting grin off his face.

"What are you so happy about?" she asked as they walked back down the hallway. He glanced at her and she was sure that there were few thirteen year olds that could manage to look that enigmatic. He seemed to settle into an air of pure satisfaction and shook his head. Though sceptical, Anzu decided not to push the issue. Instead, she asked, "So what do you want to do today?"

Mokuba flopped onto his sofa and shrugged lazily. "Anything."

Well if that was how it was going to be…Anzu smirked. "Ok. Let's see… Kaiba said you were a bit behind on … Math. How's that for starters?"

Anzu hid her smile when his eyes went wide, his face the picture of revulsion. "No! Please. How about we play some…" She watched his eyes dart quickly around the room and settle on a box on his desk that had not been there yesterday. "…chess. Yes, let's play some chess?"

Sooner than she could reply, he had already started bringing the box toward her.

"I think this means school work is out of bounds this spring," she stated.

"'Think'?" Mokuba asked, setting up his side of the board. She noted he'd instantly gone for the black pieces. "I _know_."

* * *

"Anzu, how long have you been working here?" Mokuba asked quite suddenly. Anzu, never taking her eyes off the chessboard, replied, "About two weeks. Why?" 

Mokuba considered his question carefully, trying to find the best way to put it without it coming across as what it actually was: a way to get his brother and his babysitter to spend more time together. Eventually, he said, "Well, you've never really had any of Cook's dinners. The lunches are great and everything but they're usually pretty casual. She only cooks dinner once a week and since today's the day, I was wondering if you could stay for dinner?"

Then she looked up. "Dinner?"

"Yeah," Mokuba put on his most charming smile and threw in his infamous 'eyes' for good measure. "We're friends. Can't you at least stay for dinner?"

She looked at him for moment then sighed. "Let me just call my mother and ask her if it'll be ok."

He beamed as she pulled out her cell phone. Before she dialled, she moved her queen and stated, "Checkmate."

* * *

"Check." Seto paused mid-step and listened. They were in the den. He turned on his heel and padded silently back to the ajar doorway. He pushed it open – none of the hinges in the Kaiba mansion _ever _squeaked – and leaned against the doorframe. Although they sat with their backs to the door and to him, he could see their faces at an angle. Both were engrossed in the game. 

Seto watched as a small smile crept onto Anzu's lips, tugging playfully at edges. She swept the board with one last assessing glance then, "Checkmate."

Groaning in exasperation, Mokuba threw his weight backwards, his hands in his hair. In a split second, Seto saw himself and blinked. Mokuba pushed his bangs away from eyes and proceeded to loudly remonstrate, "Anzu, I thought you said you couldn't play!"

Her smile blossomed fully and after playing around a bit with her marble Queen, she replied remorsefully albeit near grinning, "I said I couldn't play _well_. I apologize for bending the truth."

Mokuba regarded at her for a moment, his expression thoughtful before he smirked and said, much to Seto's astonishment, "Seto would love to have a go at you."

The little devil! Double-entendres already? Mokuba's eyes shimmered with repressed laughter and the corners of his mouth pulled back fractionally. When Anzu lowered the glass she'd been drinking from, Seto pushed off of his brace and, feeling wicked, said, "I do suppose I would."

The hint of colour that graced her cheeks nearly made him grin. In fact, he did grin and she blinked. He almost laughed. But he supposed he'd startled her enough for one afternoon. Turning his attention to his brother, he asked, "Did you win?"

"No. Anzu beat me upside down in both matches," Mokuba complained, obviously dissatisfied with the outcome. Then, without warning, Seto found himself being pushed into the chair Mokuba had recently vacated.

"Black or White, Seto?" Mokuba questioned, hands on the chessboard.

"Ladies first," Seto replied, smirking at his new opponent. She inclined her head in regal gesture of thanks. It suited her, Seto thought. It made the arch of her neck look perfectly sculpted. As Anzu's King's pawn took two brave steps forward, Seto wondered what it would feel like to trace that line with his fingertips.

* * *

Mokuba looked up from his Dragon Ball Z manga and rolled his eyes. In all his life he had never witnessed such a long game. Seto and Anzu had been playing one set for hours. Anzu had quickly won the first game – much to Seto's surprise – but his brother had managed to redeem himself by swiftly winning the second. They were on the tie-breaker and it was taking _forever_. Literally. 

Mokuba checked the time on the grandfather clock behind him. Wow. Had it been that long? Dinner was in ten minutes. That meant that the two players hadn't left the room in three hours. He turned his attention back to them and remembered that he hadn't even told Seto that Anzu would be joining them that evening. He cleared his throat:

"Seto… _Se_-to?"

Neither player took notice of him. His babysitter was busy planning her next move and his elder brother was too busy staring at the top of Anzu's bent head. Seto's long, slender fingers were trailing up and down the side of the table in an unconscious motion. Unnecessary movements from the elder Kaiba were so rare that they were of particular interest to Mokuba, who watched a small…something play along Seto's lips. Anzu was too enraptured in the game to notice how enraptured her opponent was in _her_. And considering who her opponent was; that had to mean _something_.

Finally, she made a move which Mokuba was almost sure Seto had not registered. However, the fingers left the side of table and moved to the edge of the board. Anzu's eyes flickered onto them for a moment before returning to gaze intently at the pieces. Seto's fingers paused beside the black Rook or Bishop at intervals. The younger Kaiba had a sneaky feeling that Seto was just being naughty – even if subconsciously – by prolonging his turn for such an extended period. Mokuba knew Seto was unaware of both his expression and his actions at the moment and, sighing internally, decided that it was time to do his job and save Seto from himself.

"Seto!" Mokuba called sharply.

* * *

The two teens' heads shot up simultaneously. Anzu tried to regain full consciousness of her surroundings, wondering how it had gotten late so suddenly. Seto cursed himself silently. What did he think he was doing? He moved to push the sleeve of his shirt back and realised there was nothing to push. When had he rolled up his sleeves? Dismissing it, he checked his watch. 

Anzu, having already verified the time using the clock behind Mokuba, turned her attention back to Kaiba and frowned. She didn't remember him folding his sleeves back. Not that she minded, of course. He had arrived immaculately dressed in black slacks and a white, long-sleeved work shirt. Apart from having rolled the sleeves back to just below his elbows, Seto had also undone a few of the top buttons leaving the collar splayed. It exposed only some the smooth skin of his chest. And she had once thought that only girls could make that tantalizing.

Mokuba interrupted both their musings. "Seto, I think it's time for dinner. Cook's already called twice. And I asked Anzu to stay for dinner tonight. She's never had dinner with us so I thought tonight would be perfect."

_Perfect for what?_ Seto thought. He looked across at his employee, who was very interested in finding something in her purse, and then back at his brother. Contrary to popular opinion, Seto was not entirely unobservant of his younger sibling's forays into matchmaking. However, the situation as it stood was irrevocable. The invitation had long been extended and, it appeared, accepted. He shrugged offhandedly.

Anzu hadn't even expected that much. When the Kaibas left the room, she sat back and smiled to herself. She recognized the attitude she had just been treated with. Yugi was familiar with it also: a grudging respect. She glimpsed at the chessboard one final time. She was better than she had thought.

* * *

"Oh yeah, then there's the _Final Fantasy VII_ movie," Mokuba said to his sitter. They were in the middle of a conversation about video games and other related items. Or rather, Mokuba was expounding and the other two were listening patiently. Occasionally, one of them would comment. Anzu tended to further express her opinion than Kaiba, who only made derisive noises at mention of games he found lacking. "Hey Seto, doesn't Mrs. Yuriogoku work with Square Enix?" 

"Who?"

"_Mrs. Yuriogoku._" At Seto's blank look, an exasperated Mokuba turned to Anzu and explained, "Mrs. Yuriogoku is an old, _old_ lady. If you see her at the ball, she'll probably tell you something about how cute you are."

Both Anzu and Seto were half-gaping at him. It was the first time anyone had mentioned their date since it had been made. Seto said, "I think I know who you're talking about."

Out of the corner of her eye Anzu him saw turn his attention back to his meal, a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth. Mokuba reclaimed her attention saying, "Every time she sees me she asks me how old I am. Last year, I told her I was twelve and she said that I couldn't be that old – I was just _so_ cute last year when I was four. Plus, she has this cane she's always shaking. Seto says she's shifting gears."

Anzu stifled her chuckle. When she had swallowed, she shot a glance at Kaiba then said, "I always thought Kaiba Corp and associates were all… um… Big 5 material."

Mokuba shook his head instantly. "Nope. They were just Gozaburo's cronies. Most of the _real_ Kaiba Corp is made of some pretty cool people. Well, not cool… funny. Like Mr. Mitsugu."

"You don't like Mr. Mitsugu because he pinches your cheeks." The teasing, abrupt accusation came from the older Kaiba.

"He pinches yours too," Mokuba countered. The expression on Kaiba's face was enough to tell Anzu that it the truth. Unable to maintain her composure, she laughed. When she looked back at Kaiba, his bangs covered his eyes but on his lips sat a small smile.

"Mr. Mitsugu works in Finances," Mokuba clarified. "He's been around Kaiba Corp since before I can remember. He calls Seto 'child' every time he sees him. Makes his," he inclined his head towards Seto, "teeth grate."

Anzu grinned. As Mokuba continued his barrage of anecdotes, both she and the atmosphere became more relaxed. It amazed her to find that Kaiba Corp was made up of such Motley crew characters. She assumed that what really mattered most was their knowledge and expertise rather than their social interaction habits. But they were amusing nonetheless.

There was one tale that caught her attention especially and she wound up chuckling despite it not being as funny as some of its predecessors. It was idea of _the_ Seto Kaiba ducking away from a sixty-two year old, 5'2" man that made her laugh. According to Mokuba, when Seto had been much younger – right after they were adopted – Mr. Futeki had threatened to hang him (Seto) from the top of the Kaiba Corp tower, upside down. Not having been aware of his significant position, Seto had believed it and to this day, in spite of knowing better, Seto still walked the other way when he saw Futeki.

With regard to the older Kaiba, the comment about Mitsugu had been the icebreaker. Although he was nowhere near as animated as Mokuba, his perfectly timed comments injected a level of dry, mature humour that Anzu found immensely entertaining. She began to laugh more and more when he spoke until, at one point, she realised she was just waiting for him to say something for her next giggle.

Toward the end of the main course, Mokuba was warning her about the more notorious individuals, such as Mr. Haji who was constantly attempting to get pretty girls to sit beside him. She spent the remainder of the meal with most of her outward attention still ensnared by Mokuba.

When again she had time to think, i.e. during dessert since Mokuba's mouth suddenly became too busy to talk, Anzu became conscious of the fact that even though she thought she had seen a lot more Seto Kaiba during their one-on-one, she really had only seen the tip of the iceberg. Once, during one of Mokuba's more comical stories of Ms. Ashiro and "The Man Who Wanted to Tango", Seto had laughed… just _laughed_. There had been no malice, no infuriating smugness or condescension tainting the action. It was not a cackle, or a contemptuous or bitter laugh, but truly _genuine_ laughter. It was pure, simple, unadulterated mirth. It was the way she imagined the child with the white teddy bear would have laughed once upon a time.

From then on, she had covertly observed Seto, hoping that her conduct was not too palpable. She doubted he detected her attentions, so focused was he on Mokuba. Watching them together – watching him with Mokuba – reinforced what she had already ascertained: no one knew Seto Kaiba. No one could. With his younger brother, Seto became a real person with real emotions rather than the robotic image he wore in front of the rest of the world. She was finally able to glimpse beneath the ice and, perhaps, understand why standing on the edge of a tower with nothing but pounding waves, jagged rocks and death staring back up at you wasn't such a bad prospect when the only person who could make you _real_ was being threatened. She could not even halfway begin to think about what she would do had she been in his position.

The other thing she had noticed about Kaiba's laughter was the effect it had on his features. Just as it had earlier, humour made him seem so much younger – so much more like the age they shared. Similes of 'eyes like sapphires' didn't come close to the real thing. When Seto Kaiba laughed, he became – and this she believed to be the understatement of the _decade_ – devastatingly attractive. For that single illuminated moment in time, he radiated everything in the world that she could ever want. He was the embodiment of everything adjudged mortal sin.

* * *

Dinner had been a unique experience but, admittedly, one Seto could find himself taking pleasure in. He and Mokuba had not shared a meal with so much mirth in quite a while. It was one of the few things Seto regretted about his drive to work late into the nights. Apart from that, however, Seto had spent much of the time purely captivated by the blue-eyed sprite seated to his right. Often, Seto had scorned the incessant laughter that Yugi's crowd exuded. Now, he supposed he could understand why those boys would sprout joke after joke. He had fallen into the trap himself. Anzu Mazaki's laughter brightened a room and no matter how hard he tried Seto wound up savouring it and, in his own way, attempting to perpetuate it. 

He was able to claw himself away from the jaws of that temporary insanity after the meal had concluded. Now, he was faced with another mammoth task: take Mazaki home in the Mercedes he had stupidly told Mokuba he wanted to drive. To top it off, his beloved little brother was "too sleepy" to accompany them. _Great. Just great._

He viciously forced his arm through the sleeve of his trench coat and started down the stairs. Mazaki was waiting by the door. Repressing a sigh, he walked briskly toward her. Mokuba materialized from behind her and gave him a huge goodnight hug before practically skipping up the stairs. Seto quirked an eyebrow at his disappearing back then signalled for Mazaki to follow him out. The driver had already brought the car around and was awaiting them at the foot of the steps.

As he turned off his driveway and onto the road, Seto snuck a peek at Anzu. He wondered what she would look like formally dressed. He wondered what they looked like right then; together, alone, in the front seats of his brand new dark blue Mercedes. Did they look like employer and employee or, perhaps, something more? Then he thought to himself that even though he had been trained to be constantly image-conscious, this was pushing the limit.

"I don't think I'll be able to come to work Monday morning," she declared suddenly. He glanced at her briefly but turned his attention hastily back to driving.

"Why not?"

"Well, I have some shopping to do. I need a dress, among other things," she replied.

He opened his mouth, intending to ask her if there was need for him to foot the bill – after all, she was doing this for him. The feeling that shot through him at that thought was quickly brushed aside but he still wound up croaking out something to the effect of, "Do I have to pay?"

"For what?" Her tone was a mixture of confusion and wariness. He realized that she was bracing for an insult. Of course, he knew he didn't have the nicest track record with her and her friends. He had called Wheeler a dog to his face too many times to count but, for once, he had not meant to offend her. Trying to keep his voice as neutral as possible, he clarified:

"I _meant _the expenses for the dress. This is a…favour to me. It's the least I could do."

Her expression was unreadable. He was glad to have driving as an excuse to not have to look at her. Finally, she said, "Thanks, but no. My sister's back from Hong Kong and she's going to handle it."

"Your sister?" He hadn't known she had siblings. As far as he was concerned, she was, by all outward appearances, an only child. Perchance her parents were wealthier than he had thought. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a fond smile reminiscent of Mokuba's grace her lips.

"Akira Mazaki. She owes me one."

"Oh." He turned right, onto the same street his limo had stopped on days ago. As they passed the place where he had intercepted her, Anzu's head turned fractionally toward the window. Then, her movements nearly imperceptible, she was staring straight out the windscreen.

Again, just like the last time they shared a vehicle, he found himself wanting to ask her what she knew about him. How did she know those things about him? Was there something he was forgetting? And, he asked himself, isn't there more you should know about her?

* * *

Anzu was unaccustomed to such quiet car rides though she had to confess that sitting in the front seat of a Mercedes with Seto Kaiba acting chauffeur was rare indeed. When he had glanced at her for the third time, she said, "I don't think I'll be able to come to work Monday morning." 

His brows contracted slightly. "Why not?"

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Honestly, had he and Joey not despised each other as much as they did, she could have sworn they would have been very well-matched friends. Did she really have to spell it out for him? She answered, "Well, I have some shopping to do. I need a dress, among other things."

With her head facing the opposite direction, she did not see his face when he asked, his tone strained to her ears, "Do I have to pay?"

_Why would he ask such a ridiculous question? _Then an idea wandered forth that she disliked greatly. He couldn't possibly think that he had to pay for her company, did he? Or, worse yet, perhaps he thought this was part of her 'services'? Either way, this was not an area she desired entry to. Discussing matters of wealth with Seto Kaiba normally meant that whoever was not Seto Kaiba would lose. On guard, she asked, "For what?"

He looked at her again. He was silent for a minute followed by, "I _meant _the expenses for the dress. This is a…favour to me. It's the least I could do."

_That isn't Seto Kaiba, _she thought. Conversely, she had seen so many versions of Seto Kaiba in the past two weeks that the man beside her could be yet another, amazingly courteous, actually kind of sweet one. Her lips twitched at the thought of a "sweet" Seto Kaiba. "Thanks, but no. My sister's back from Hong Kong and she's going to handle it."

"Your sister?" There was something he actually had no knowledge of?

The image of her sister formed in her mind's eye and Anzu felt the sort of love she believed Mokuba exhibited every time he saw or even spoke about Seto. She nodded and said, "Akira Mazaki. She owes me one."

"Oh."

Looking up, she recognized the turn he had just made. This was the street. And as they passed, her eyes flickered towards the spot. With her apartment complex drawing nearer, she allowed her eyes to traverse Kaiba's profile swiftly. He was a man of many mysteries, Seto Kaiba was.

* * *

Kaiba pulled up in front of the entrance to her building and watched her reach down to unbuckle her seatbelt. The darkness inside the car made the mood alter somehow. It was, along with his annoying subconscious, eventually what Seto blamed for his actions. 

As she tried to undo the buckle, he saw the same lock of hair that always taunted his fingers swing downward over her cheek. Anzu, for some reason having a little bit of difficulty with the seatbelt, attempted to blow it away. It was futile. Then a complete shock to her system was delivered when supple digits pushed the lock behind her ear. Her eyes widened and all her movements halted.

Seto withdrew his fingers and latched them firmly onto the steering wheel. He had not meant to do that. Soon, she managed to unclasp the buckle. She had one foot out of the car when she cast a glance at him over her shoulder, the streetlight just enough to display the tiny smile on her face.

"Goodnight, Kaiba."

"Goodnight, Mazaki."

When she had vanished into her building, he glared at his fingers – which were tingling seemingly with elation and anticipation. _Oh no,_ he thought, _never again. Don't even think about it. _But the tingling would not abate, even after he had bathed and gone to bed.

* * *

The days leading up to the 28th all but flew past Anzu and the Kaibas. There were, of course, a few exceptions. She did not see Seto Kaiba for the remainder of the weekend. He had left the house before she arrived on Friday and Saturday and did not return until long after she had left. At least that was the report Mokuba presented to her late Saturday afternoon. 

"Seto's been going half-mad at the office lately," Mokuba said after swallowing a mouthful of cookie. "He's threatened to fire the whole Social Committee."

"Why?" Anzu asked. They were, after all, essential to the upcoming ball.

"He says he doesn't know why he pays them. All they've been done lately is run things by him. Every five minutes it's, 'I just wanted to run this by you, Mr. Kaiba.' He'd like to run them all through a shredder. I heard him muttering about colour schemes and seating arrangements. Last night, right before dinner, he was shouting down the phone that he didn't care what was on the menu once you could eat it."

Anzu's milk bubbled as she accidentally giggled into it. "It sounds like he _is_ paying sinecures."

"Sine-whats?"

"Sine_cures _are jobs where you earn lots of money, are well-respected and bone idle."

"Oh. Yeah, I think that's the word Seto used too."

* * *

A freshly bathed Mokuba stopped instantly when he heard the car door slam. No wait; that was the limo. Either way, it was Seto, who had left a note by Mokuba's bedside saying that he was just running into the office for a few minutes and should be back by 9:30. Mokuba checked his watch. 9:30 on the dot. 

As the doors opened, Mokuba leaned against the wall halfway up the stairs and waited. Seto would have to pass him. Mokuba watched as his brother handed over his trench coat and brief case, ran a hand through his uncharacteristically messy brown hair, and scowled almost sadistically. Mokuba winced. _Bad day_.

Contrary to popular myth, Seto did not bother to hide his darker side from Mokuba. Mokuba was fully aware that his brother was often cold, in business downright ruthless, and sometimes out-and-out cruel. True, Mokuba was not privy to everything that happened to Seto or to everything Seto did but he knew what he deemed to be the important things. Seto was human and imperfect – so was everyone else. The underlying truth was that Mokuba loved him, vices and virtues, because, in the end, they were all the other had.

Seto started toward the steps. His eyes lingered on the entrance to the lounge where Mokuba had found him and Anzu on Tuesday. Mokuba frowned. He _knew_ he had missed something. Seto's fist clenched and he looked down at it, his expression unfortunately invisible to Mokuba. Mokuba was not, however, given time to speculate on the meaning of such actions. Seto was already looming over him.

"Hey Seto." Mokuba had, in the past few months, outgrown the need to constantly address Seto as 'Big Brother'. Although he still loved him unconditionally, he was now able to weigh his faults and Mokuba's total _worship _of Seto had matured into immense admiration and tangible respect. "Bad day?"

Seto smirked, "Keeps getting worse."

He paused for a moment and looked around. "Where's your sitter?"

"She's not a _sitter_. I'm thirteen you know," Mokuba joked. "Besides, don't you remember she told you she had to go find a dress for your _big date_?" Still smirking, he took a drink of his Dasani and, as soon as he pulled the bottle away from his mouth, Seto swiped it. After taking a much longer drink, he handed back a suddenly half-empty bottle in the place of the near brand new one he had taken.

"You look…clean." Seto said, observing his brother. "What do you plan to do today?"

"I was hoping to go outside but it's kind of hot." Mokuba paused briefly before looking up at his brother. "You feel up to some _kumite_ (1)?"

Seto considered it for a moment prior to nodding. "Stress relief."

* * *

It was, without doubt, Seto's favourite place in the mansion. The dojo was a soft, pale yellow with muted lighting that lent it an almost candle-like glow. After seeing the _Matrix_, Mokuba came home and proclaimed that the entire training room in which Neo and Morpheus had done their sparring was lifted from their house. Having seen the movie more than once, Seto was inclined to believe him. 

He basked in the calm that permeated the air of the dojo only moments more before marching over to a small stereo nestled inconspicuously in one corner. He pressed play not caring what Mokuba had last left in – he could and would work with anything. Seto began his warm up from the White-belt kata despite being well into the Dans. Absorbed, he disciplined each muscle to move only as much as required and controlled the force behind every strike at his imaginary opponents (who, in fact, resembled the members of the Kaiba Corp social committee). The work out wasn't as easy as he remembered. It had been a little too long since he'd paid any mind to his physical health. Very soon, however, he was back in tune. His movements changed perceptibly from jerky to graceful.

Soon Seto was smiling to himself as he cut down Mr. Chicken-or-Fish.

* * *

It hadn't taken Anzu very long to assume she'd located Mokuba. The crescendo of a System of a Down song was a good enough lead. The music emanated from a room that seemed misplaced on the ground floor of the Kaiba mansion. Wedged between the eastern wall and the massive formal dining room, it was a room she had never paid much attention to. Mokuba had said something about using it for karate practice. Shaking her head, she moved toward the door and turned the handle. _Locked. Great. _

She turned away and spied a corridor she was somewhat familiar with though she had only used it twice. It was what in earlier days would have been a called a "servant access pathway" that led to the kitchen where most on-duty Kaiba household staff spent their free time. Somebody, she assumed, would have a key.

Half-way down the passageway, she spotted it: a second door. It opened easily. What surprised her was that instead of being presented with the interior of a room, she was greeted by yet another door – a traditional Japanese door in an otherwise western house. Now she was curious.

Anzu advanced cautiously. The door slid open silently. The lights were dim and visibility was limited from Anzu's angle so she stepped inside quietly trying to dissolve into the shadows and surprise the younger Kaiba. Glancing about, she realised that she was in a dojo. Then she saw him.

In the very centre of the room was Seto Kaiba. Decked in a royal blue karate_ gi_, he moved with a grace not often found in fighters. First and foremost, her eyes moved to his waist. _Black._ She hadn't honestly expected anything less.

She noticed a change in the music – something by Stabbing Westward off the English Tekken OST. Outwardly, she wasn't one for action anime but her three best friends were guys so she knew her stuff. Kaiba rapidly recaptured her attention, his movements becoming more and more complicated. Anzu did not, by any scale, consider herself well-informed when it came to martial arts. Her knowledge was limited to a few displays and the odd competition on television. What she had seen of martial arts up-close in real life by those who claimed to be skilled martial artists had not served to pique her interest. They had been clumsy and brutal. This… this was something else.

Kaiba was relaxed, self-possessed and in control. Where the boys Anzu had seen had stumbled about throwing awkwardly angled punches and misdirected kicks, he seemed to know exactly what he doing. Instead of staggering about after each kick and fumbling to regain his footing, Seto moved evenly into another position without batting an eyelash. He sliced through the air with what appeared to be a deadly precision.

Finally, she found the word she had been groping for in the recesses of her mind: Kaiba made this look like a dance.

As she continued to watch him, the music she had failed to hear filtered back into her consciousness and she realized that he was moving to the beat. The song blended smoothly into another and there was a subtle change in the way he was moving. He no longer followed a defined pattern rather his actions were dictated by his own mental projection of his opponent.

Indubitably, Seto Kaiba left to his own devices was infinitely more dangerous than anyone else she knew barring those with mind-crush abilities.

As Seto dropped and swung his leg outward in a smooth arc, effectively taking the legs out from under his imaginary opponent, an emotion Anzu could not define bubbled within her. Seto was perilously close to finding her right where she stood but no matter how much common sense told her to move, she was riveted.

Seto Kaiba, at age twelve, had been the most gorgeous boy Anzu had ever laid eyes upon and, perhaps she was stupid, but she had only just realized that over the years he had become the most physically striking person she knew. She was staggered by her own ardency as he continued his unique dance. She knew she was attracted to him and had been for the longest while thus the evident desire that tightened her abdominal muscles did not surprise her. It was the fierce mixture of admiration and pride and – dare she think it? No, not just yet, it was far too early for sentiments with such connotations. Yet, whatever the concoction, it reached upward and held her heart with a strength that made her breath hitch just as the door behind her was thrown open.

* * *

"Anzu! There you are!" 

How had he missed her? Seto picked up on two things at the same time: the sombre colour of her clothes and the distinct, pleasant scent of her perfume. He cursed himself silently for being so careless.

Mokuba began to speak though Seto knew that neither he nor Anzu was actually listening to the younger boy. She was looking at him as directly as he was looking at her. Something told him that she was not one for staring in someone else's eyes. She was like him that respect…

When she did not turn away, he found himself wondering if she had liked what she'd seen. Even though he was not and had never been one to make an effort to impress girls, Seto _wanted_ her to be impressed, he wanted his performance, conscious or not, to have had some effect because…

Because – and he would only say this once – she was _Anzu_. She stood up for him against popular majority. She cared enough about him to save his life despite being utterly furious with his antics. She was Anzu, who had been the first thing he'd seen one entering sixth grade and, for a while after, had been the only thing he _could_ see. She had been the girl with the long, wild ponytail swinging behind her and the smile that brightened his week. She was the girl he had always been attracted to and the girl he was beginning to think he cared about.

"You know, this is what the date is for," Mokuba dryly interjected.

**

* * *

AN:** _Yes_, I be alive and _yes_, there be more. 

(1) _Kumite, katas, Dans_– basically thekarate terminology.

Now, I knowI don't deserve them but... Reviews? Please?


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